This Will Be Our Year
by iaminarage
Summary: It's the summer before the 2014 Olympics and Kurt Hummel knows that, after his surprise bronze medal at the 2013 World Championships, this is going to be the most important season of his life, so he can't afford for anything to disrupt his training. Enter US Champion Ice Dancers Santana Lopez and Sebastian Smythe, who have just begun training at Kurt's rink to disrupt all of his pl


Notes: This is an AU, so everything is different, including character ages. Most glee characters appear, and this fic should be everything friendly (except maybe Will). No real figure skaters are mentioned, and the locations of events do not match the locations for the 2013-2014 season (so the Olympics are not held in Russia). Because the 2014 Olympics had not happened when I wrote the fic, the schedule is based on the 2010 Olympic schedule (no team event, medals awarded on the ice, etc). Blaine this fic is Blaine Friendly.

I am not a figure skater, so I can't promise that I got all the details right, but I do know my figure skating _very well _as an outsider, so most of this is as solidly researched and plausible as I can make it.

This story was written for the Kurt Big Bang and, in order to see the amazing art by Riverance, you will need to check out the story on AO3, where I can be found under the same user name. The title comes from The Zombies' song by the same name. (Although, if I'm being honest, I was listening to the NBC Smash version)

**Thank yous: **Thank you to riverance for the gorgeous art of Kurt and Sebastian. And of course, thank you to the wonderful loveinisolation for the beta, the cheerleading, and for being my moral support.

* * *

**Pre-Olympic Season Musings-Team USA**

_by Jacob Ben Israel_

Hello loyal readers! It's that time again. Yes, that time right after Worlds where we take a way-too-early look at the storylines for the upcoming season among the US skaters: Who is a lock for Olympic gold? Who is watching their career slowly flush itself down the toilet? Who is getting their hands down whose dance belt? We can't reveal all now, of course; we have to have something to talk about during the summer. But let's get started.

Let's start with the men, shall we? Hopefully, someone has reminded them all that we actually employ a Zamboni to polish the ice, and they don't need to use their, admittedly fine, butts to do so in the future. I have no idea what that World Championships was supposed to be, but thankfully the three medalists actually stayed on their feet, since no one else did!

Speaking of polishing the ice with your ass: Kurt Hummel! The perennial head case shocked everyone by skating back to back clean programs in not one but two competitions this year. His surprising second place at nationals earned him a trip to Worlds and an even more shocking world bronze medal. Don't expect it to last, though. Hummel is a delicate little flower, and I expect his clean programs to disappear faster than you can say "sudden media interest during the Olympic season." Expect Jake Puckerman to be back on top by the time Nationals roll around.

Next up, let's look at that spiciest of all disciplines, ice dance. If someone is going to start a physical fight in the middle of a skating competition, you can bet it'll be the ice dancers. In fact, it'll probably be Santana Lopez.

Another year has come and gone with Lopez and Smythe skating a completely laughable lyrical ballet program. For the Olympic season, we can count on Coach Will Schuester to continue with his off-base (and creepy as hell) strategy of saddling his prize team with music that he skated to with his wife and former partner, Terri Schuester. That is, unless Lopez and Smythe wise up and figure out that winning the technical score at Worlds and still coming in fourth overall is a sign that someone needs to be fired. If nothing else, we can count on the duo to provide plenty of bed-hopping gossip. Rumor has it that Sebastian Smythe was caught walk-of-shaming it out of Jesse St. James's room the morning after the free dance. Or at least he would have been if either of those two was capable of anything resembling shame.

One person we can count on not to be doing the stride of pride any time soon is Ryder Lynn. He and partner Marley Rose may be Wonder Bread on the ice, but they certainly keep us amused off the ice. A little birdie told us that Ryder is still carrying a torch for Marley, even though she's been dating Jake Puckerman for over a year. Time for some tough love for Mr. Lynn: You're an adorable puppy, dear, but ain't nobody going to leave Puckerman's fine ass for you.

Turning our attention to the pairs, we can once again promise that the US is not in danger of medaling at the Olympics. The mystery of why on earth Joe Hart is still skating with Sugar Motta remains at large, although most of us suspect that the answer resides in her father's pocketbook. Motta & Hart will surely make the Olympic team, but we will all continue to lament the fact that, with a good partner, Hart could have been an Olympic champion. But everyone's got to pay the bills somehow.

Meanwhile, the question of which pair team will join Motta & Hart on their trip to Stockholm for the Olympics pretty much comes down to whether or not Berry & Hudson can manage to keep their on-again-off-again relationship together long enough to actually earn that silver medal at Nationals. Hudson may skate like a truck driver, but, when they are speaking to each other, they are obviously the second best pair in the US.

And last, but certainly not least, the ladies. The two most obvious contenders for the Olympic team are Kitty Wilde and Brittany Pierce, and those two are never boring! We here at this blog have dedicated countless hours to counting the number of competitors Wilde has made cry just with a look and whether or not Pierce is even aware that she's in a figure skating competition, but the real storyline for this season has nothing to do with either of them. Rumor out of the William H. McKinley Ice Arena in Columbus is that none other than child prodigy Quinn Fabray is finally trying to make a comeback to skating. Here's hoping she doesn't have another bun in the oven before the Olympic season is over!

We skating fans may not agree on much, but between Kurt Hummel, Berry & Hudson, and Quinn Fabray, I think we can all agree that we would love to be a fly on the wall of the McKinley Ice Arena this year. I, for one, cannot wait for the absolute gossip explosion that is the Olympic season. Sequins are going to fly this year, ladies and gentlemen. So let's get to it!Kurt was sitting on the floor of the rink lobby, legs spread, hands pressed into the floor in front of him. He took a deep breath as he leaned forward until his elbows were resting on the floor and his forehead was pressed into his arms. He felt the stretch through his back and legs as he continued to breathe slowly and calmly.

He was just starting to feel completely relaxed when a familiar voice disrupted his concentration. "I'm pretty sure there's no excuse for being that flexible."

Kurt didn't even need to look up to tell that the voice belonged to Blaine Anderson. Blaine had only been training and coaching at Kurt's rink for about two years—since he'd started at Ohio State—but he'd already become one of Kurt's best friends. He knew Blaine well enough that he also didn't have to look up to tell that Blaine hadn't just walked into the lobby, he had bounced.

"I don't really think I need an excuse for being this amazing, Blaine," Kurt said, without moving from his position.

Blaine dropped to the floor next to where Kurt was stretching. "So, have you heard the newest rumors about Lopez and Smythe?"

Kurt sighed. Santana Lopez and Sebastian Smythe were the US ice dancing champions and were a source of almost constant figure skating gossip. "I'm sure I don't care."

"Oh, you really might care this time!" Blaine sounded like he was about to jump out of his skin.

Kurt eased back on the stretch a bit and turned his head so he could face Blaine. "What? Did they announce their completely unsuitable program music already? I'm sure Will Schuester has another twenty or so pretty-pretty princess programs up his sleeve that will make his students look completely stupid."

Blaine grinned. "Oh, it looks like he's not going to get the chance. They're changing coaches."

Kurt wasn't surprised. Absolutely everyone knew that Lopez and Smythe should have changed coaches years ago. Will Schuester was a fine technical coach, but he had no idea how to present his students properly. He was convinced that their best chance at success was to use the same kind of music that he had used when he'd become a world and Olympic medalist. This meant that the US champions were constantly skating to delicate ballet music, which obviously didn't fit them. Their last long program, to the Nutcracker, couldn't have been a worse choice for them. Their technical skills had been strong enough to carry them to fourth in the world, but everyone knew that if they were going to have a shot at the Olympic podium this year, they'd need programs that actually worked for them.

"So who is their new coach?" Kurt asked.

"Sue Sylvester." Blaine's voice was casual, as if he hadn't just given Kurt the worst news he'd had in months.

Kurt sat straight up out of the stretch and spun to face Blaine. "But she coaches here!" He grabbed his friend's arms. "You're kidding, right? You have to be kidding." He knew the panic was obvious in his voice, but he didn't care.

Blaine glared at Kurt's hands around his arms, so Kurt slackened his grip. "I'm sorry Kurt, but I'm really not kidding. They'll be moving here within the week."

Kurt hopped to his feet and started pacing. Lopez and Smythe skating at William McKinley Ice Arena? It was a nightmare. He'd never be able to get away from Sebastian's barbs and Santana's complete lack of tact. This was the most important year of Kurt's career, and everything had seemed like it was finally coming together. He had planned on being able to make sure that absolutely nothing disrupted his Olympic preparation. But with Santana and Sebastian here? They could turn the already dramatic environment at McKinley into a complete circus.

"Kurt. Stop. Maybe it won't be that bad?"

"Not that bad? Not that bad? Are you kidding me? Sebastian Smythe is like a one man wrecking ball." Kurt flopped down onto a bench and leaned his head back, covering his eyes.

Blaine sighed and got up to sit next to Kurt on the bench and rested his hand on Kurt's shoulder. "I really think you're overreacting, Kurt. Sebastian may be an asshole, but he's got his own Olympic season to prepare for."

"I really need to call Mercedes," Kurt said as he stood up and headed for the arena doors.

"She's going to tell you the same thing that I did!" Blaine shouted at Kurt's retreating back.

Kurt knew that Blaine was wrong on this one. Blaine was a great friend, but he didn't have the same history with Kurt as Mercedes did. He and Mercedes had been best friends since she'd moved in next door to him when they were five years old. Despite not being a skater herself, she'd been around to see all the ups and downs of Kurt's skating career. She would remember that Kurt and Sebastian had trained in the same place once before-they'd both spent the summer in Colorado Springs four years earlier-and Sebastian had spent the entire time following Kurt around making snide comments about everything from his off-ice wardrobe to his skating skills. Mercedes would understand exactly why he was freaking out.

* * *

Santana and Sebastian had been training at McKinley for a few weeks when Kurt and Blaine walked out of the dance studio to find a group of other skaters standing around and chatting in the lobby. Kurt had been successful at avoiding any group that involved Sebastian so far, and things had actually gone quite a bit better than expected. He'd certainly faced a fair amount of snark from Sebastian when they did run into each other, but Coach Sylvester was keeping Sebastian on a short leash. Kurt had heard her shouting at him more than once that they had a lot of work to do if she was going to prove that she could whip Will Schuester's students into shape. Kurt would have walked right by this gathering as well, but Rachel waved Kurt over from across the room, so he and Blaine had no choice but to go join the crowd.

When Kurt and Blaine got close enough to hear the conversation, it became clear they were talking about their prospects for the upcoming season.

"We've basically got a lock on the short dance this season," Santana said. "The required rhythm is Latin. The rest of the top teams are going to look ridiculous next to us!" Kurt tried to suppress an eye roll. Of course Santana and Sebastian would have to be overconfident about their skills. Never mind that the rest of the top teams actually had world medals.

Sebastian jumped in next. "I can't wait to see Miller and Miller try to do Latin. I mean, Canadian teams have enough trouble as it is, but who doesn't love a little incest with their Rumba?"

Santana and a bunch of the other skaters laughed. "And then we have the British team," she said, "I mean, Edison and Crawford? They may be world champions, but they are basically vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. No flavor."

By this point, Kurt was annoyed. They were far too old to sit around trash talking their fellow skaters. It was a complete waste of time. None of them should be focusing on anything other than their own performances, especially not this year. "Hey! Adam's really nice!" he said, trying to break up their gossip session.

Kurt regretted speaking almost as soon as Sebastian turned to face him. Nothing good ever came from that look on Sebastian's face. "Yeah, I heard he was really _nice_ to you at Skate Canada last year."

"What? How …? How do you know that?" There was no way Adam had said anything to him. Adam had no interest in becoming skating gossip fodder.

"Your roommate was _Jesse St. James_. Did you really think he wasn't going to tell everyone that he got sexiled by Kurt Hummel and Adam Crawford?" Kurt swore under his breath. Jesse St. James was nearly as big an asshole as Sebastian, and he had considerably less talent. Kurt hadn't thought that Jesse had seen Adam leaving their room, but apparently he'd been wrong.

Kurt had no idea how to gracefully extract himself from this situation. He didn't want to let Sebastian have the upper hand, but any comeback he could think of would just make him look defensive. Luckily for him, before he had time to say anything the front door swung open, and Quinn walked into the lobby.

Santana looked almost gleeful at the sight of her. "Well, if it isn't the Virgin Mary!" she said, loudly enough to be sure Quinn heard her.

To her credit, Quinn just rolled her eyes. "Fuck off, Lopez."

Just then, the door to the rink slammed, and they all jumped. Coach Bieste was standing by the door glaring at them all. "Don't you kids have somewhere to be?" she said loudly. "Or are you all planning on watching the Olympics from the comfort of your living rooms?"

When she finished speaking, she waved a hand at the group of skaters, and everyone scattered, running off to wherever they were supposed to be. Kurt and Blaine both actually had a break before Blaine went back to school and Kurt went to ballet, so Kurt plopped down at one of the tables and rested his head on one hand.

"You okay there, Kurt?" Coach Bieste asked.

Kurt nodded and waved his free hand at her. "I'm fine. Just Sebastian Smythe, as always."

"Don't let him get to you, honey. He's more trouble than he's worth," she said as she walked back into the rink.

When she was gone, Blaine sat down next to Kurt. "Want to spread scandalous lies about Sebastian on the internet? I bet I can find Jacob Ben Israel's email."

Kurt screwed up his nose at the mention of Jacob Ben Israel's blog. "Ugh. I'd love to, but I don't think I'm creative enough to come up with any lies about Sebastian that would be more scandalous than the truth."

Blaine thought for a minute. "We could say that he had to leave Westerville because he was having an affair with his coach?"

"Oh, ew," Kurt said, glaring at Blaine. "God no. Now I'll never get the image of Will Schuester having sex out of my head."

"Oh man, now I'm picturing it!" Blaine said with a laugh. "So what are you going to do?"

Kurt shrugged. "Ignore him, I guess. I mean we're both busy. How much can we see of each other, really?"

* * *

In early June, the skaters received their Grand Prix assignments. The Grand Prix was a series of six competitions for the top senior skaters. The top skaters in the world each skated in two of the six competitions and earned points for their finishes. The six skaters with the highest point totals at the end of the series got to compete in the Grand Prix Final, which was considered to be a mini preview of the World Championships or, this year, the Olympics.

As the US's highest finisher at Worlds, Kurt was supposed to be selected for the US competition, Skate America, but he could be sent anywhere for his second competition.

Kurt had only medaled at one Grand Prix competition before in his career, but he knew that, as a world medalist, he'd be expected to win both of his events this year. Making the Final would be an important step for Kurt to prove that he belonged with the best of the best and that his world medal hadn't just been a fluke.

As soon as Kurt found out his assignments, he called Mercedes to tell her. "I'm going to Skate America in Detroit and Cup of China in Beijing!" he said as soon as she picked up.

"Congratulations, boo! I hope you don't mind if I come to Detroit instead of Beijing?"

Kurt laughed. "Honestly, I can't believe you won't fly to China to support me."

"I know, I know," Mercedes said, and Kurt could hear the smile in her voice. "I'm the worst. You must be excited to see China, though."

"I am," he said. "But it would probably be more exciting if I didn't have to skate at the same time. The 20 hours of travel time are difficult."

Kurt heard a snort and looked up to see Sebastian leaning against the door frame behind him. "Really Sebastian? You're creeping up on people now? And I thought you couldn't get any sketchier."

Sebastian actually laughed at this, and Mercedes said, "Oh goodness. Sebastian's there? I think I'll go to class and let you deal with him."

Kurt sighed and said sarcastically, "Thanks for your endless moral support! Bye, Mercedes." After he hung up the phone, he turned back to Sebastian. "What do you want?"

Sebastian shot him a cheeky grin. "I just wanted to congratulate you on getting assigned to the same two competitions as Santana and I!"

"What?" Kurt said, staring at Sebastian with his mouth open in horror. Sebastian had to be lying. There was no way he was going to be stuck flying to China with Sebastian Smythe.

Sebastian looked insufferably pleased. "We get to travel the world together this year! Try to contain your excitement." When Kurt just kept staring at him, Sebastian reached out to hook a finger under Kurt's chin. "Close your mouth, sweetheart," he said sarcastically, "before someone assumes you want them to stick something in it."

Then he winked at Kurt and walked back into the rink, leaving Kurt staring after him. Kurt wondered how this season could get any more difficult.

* * *

Despite the fact that Kurt had taken almost no vacation, Skate America seemed to come even earlier this year than it normally did.

Kurt knew he was on track with where he'd planned to be at this point in the season. His costumes were done, his programs had been completed months ago, and he was doing solid full run throughs. Even his success rate on the quad was the best it had ever been.

He'd only really started to succeed with the four rotation jump the year before, and this year, to have the best shot at winning an Olympic medal, he needed to go from doing it just once in the long program to doing it once in the short program and twice in the long program. If he couldn't, he'd need other people to make mistakes for him to end up on the podium, which was what had happened at the 2013 World Championships.

The fact that he'd been assigned to room with Sebastian at Skate America-much to Sebastian's obnoxious delight-wasn't helping Kurt's nerves.

Kurt's first practice at the competition rink was on Thursday, and it went pretty well. Once he was off the ice and changed, he headed to the stands to find the rest of the US team. Pairs practice was up next, so Kurt figured he might as well sit next to Coach Bieste and watch.

When he got to the section the US team was sitting in, his coach was sitting on the aisle. He started to climb over her and then realized that Sebastian was sitting on the other side of the empty seat next to her.

Sebastian must have caught Kurt's hesitation because he grinned wickedly and said, "Sit down, sweetheart. I don't bite … much."

Kurt had no choice but to join him. For a while, Sebastian was quiet. Kurt and Coach Bieste discussed Kurt's practice in hushed tones as the pairs did their run throughs on the ice. Then Coach Bieste announced that she had to go find Quinn and left Kurt sitting alone next to Sebastian.

Kurt thought about moving away from Sebastian now that he had no reason to sit there, but he knew that Sebastian would never let him get away with it without making some sort of commentary. Sebastian remained surprisingly silent for the next few minutes. Then Hunter Clarington had his third massive fall on a side-by-side triple jump, and Sebastian turned to Kurt and whispered, "Clarington is never going to get that jump. I think it's time we all admitted he should quit skating and go into porn."

Kurt looked over at Sebastian in shock for a second and then, despite himself, started laughing. He'd forgotten that Sebastian could also be funny when he was trying.

"He'd make a killing in gay porn," Kurt finally said. "Too bad Mr. Not-Even-Remotely-Bi-Curious would never consider it."

Sebastian gave Kurt a considering look. Then the next couple's music started, and he flinched. "What the hell is that sound? I feel like I'm getting stabbed in the ear with a violin."

"And what is she wearing?" Kurt replied, shooting a judgmental look at the girl in question. "She looks like a chicken that got into a fight with a weed wacker!"

Sebastian snorted. "And lost."

A few minutes later, a Russian pair skated by in an obviously difficult but not very attractive lift. Sebastian turned to him with a wicked grin. "Have you noticed that her expression combined with that lift position makes it look like she's really excited about fisting?"

Kurt stared at Sebastian unblinkingly for a moment. "Well. Now I'll never unsee that."

"You're welcome."

When the next team, an Italian couple, fell in the middle of their pair spin, Kurt found himself turning back to Sebastian and saying, "Well, at least they're pretty."

Sebastian grinned. "Yep. On the downside, their skating. On the upside, we get to listen to _Tosca_!"

"I do like _Tosca_," Kurt agreed, and he tried not to think about the fact that he was actually enjoying sitting next to Sebastian Smythe and judging the skaters.

After a few more minutes, the first group finished their practice and the second group took the ice. When the American champions skated out, Kurt shook his head. "I swear, Sugar Motta makes me want to get every girl in figure skating together and explain to them that there is no need to be a bottle blonde and that blonde isn't supposed to look like that anyways."

Sebastian looked like he was about to respond when he did a double take and grabbed Kurt's arm. "Holy shit. Joe Hart is not wearing a dance belt. This is not a drill."

Kurt looked up from where he'd been staring at Sebastian's hand in confusion to see that Joe had just skated by and Sebastian was right: he really wasn't. "Wow. Things are really, um, jiggling there." Kurt said. He and Sebastian ended up watching Joe and Sugar do their program very intently. Sure, they weren't the greatest team ever. But no one had ever complained about looking at Joe Hart.

When Joe and Sugar finished their program, the German champions took their starting pose. Kurt got a good look at them, and he raised his eyebrows so high that they must have hit his hairline. "Good lord, he looks like a reject from a leather bar."

Instead of agreeing, Sebastian shot Kurt a gleeful smile. "Tell me more about the time you went to a leather bar, Kurt."

Kurt blushed. He supposed it was too much to hope that he could sit next to Sebastian for an hour without getting himself into trouble. Rather than answer the question, he chose to deflect. "They know this is ice skating, not ice posing, right? You can't just stand in the middle of the ice and make emotion faces for 30 seconds."

To his surprise, Sebastian let his deflection slide. "Their emotion faces are a lot more amusing than their skating anyways. They're doing us a favor!"

They sat next to each other fairly companionably for the rest of the pairs practice. Quinn was up first in the ladies practice, and when she was finished Sebastian turned to Kurt and said, "She actually looks really good for someone who hasn't competed in years and had a baby."

Kurt smiled as he watched Quinn work on her step sequence. "She looks really good for anyone. Right now, she's the most determined person I've ever met. And that's coming from me."

"Which is really saying something," Sebastian said with a surprising lack of sarcasm in his voice.

"I've always said so," Kurt replied with a laugh. "I think she's tired of regrets."

After the first group of ladies was finished, Kurt got up to head back to the hotel with Quinn and Coach Bieste. Sebastian and Santana were staying for the last group, because Santana had a thing for one of the competitors.

As Kurt threw on his coat, Sebastian looked up at him and said, "You know Kurt, you're more fun that you used to be."

Kurt rolled his eyes at Sebastian. He wasn't sure if he should be flattered or horrified by that statement. It might not be a compliment to be Sebastian's idea of fun.

* * *

Kurt hit his final pose at the end of his short program for only a second before dropping his head with a sigh. He skated in a quick circle to give himself a second and then hit center ice to take his bow to fairly strong applause.

He held his composure as he skated to the edge of the rink and grabbed his skate guards and a hug from coach Bieste. "You did good," she whispered in his ear.

Kurt shot her a confused look as they stepped into the Kiss and Cry. As soon as Kurt sat down, he schooled his face into a disappointed but still pleasant mask. He couldn't afford to look angry on camera.

He was still mulling over Coach Bieste's statement as the replays began to play in front of him. He had no idea why she'd say he'd done well. He'd fallen on the opening jump of his program-the all-important quad-and he knew he'd lose points on it no matter what he did in the rest of the program.

Coach Beiste made quiet comments on the replays of his elements, telling him that his spin should get full credit and that his combination was great, but Kurt's mind was still on the quad. He'd hesitated going in and hadn't gotten enough rotation before he hit the ice, which was why he had fallen. It was a stupid mistake.

Kurt snapped to attention when his scores started to come up. The score was actually pretty good considering the fall. It was certainly higher than a lot of scores he'd earned over the years, but it was only enough to land him in fourth place after the short program.

As soon as the camera clicked off him, he headed out of the Kiss and Cry and into the back hallway. Once they were out of the way, Coach Bieste grabbed his arm to stop him. "Okay, Kurt, talk to me."

"How can you say I did well?" he said, knowing he sounded petulant.

"Look, Kurt, I know you fell on the quad. But you gotta look at the big picture, kid. After the fall, that was one of the best short programs you've ever skated."

Kurt just blinked at her. What did it even matter that the program had been great aside from the massive, glaring error?

Coach Beiste moved her hand to pat his shoulder. "Don't look at me like that. It matters. You made a mistake, but then, instead of making any more mistakes, you actually changed the program to help make up for it. This is the first time in the six years that we've been working together that you've ever been able to keep your errors from snowballing."

Kurt thought about this. He supposed it was true. Normally, if he fell on the first jump in a program, he'd lose focus and make a bunch of other stupid mistakes. "But I'm still in fourth," he said finally.

"Less than four points out of second. Forget about today. If you skate well tomorrow, you'll be right back in this thing," she said and then squeezed his shoulder. "But you can't do that if you don't let today go."

Kurt nodded. He knew that she was right. Emma, the sports psychologist at McKinley, would tell him that he needed to learn to have a short memory for these things. It went against everything in his nature, but he would try.

* * *

Kurt had tried, but by the time he was getting ready for bed he was annoyed again. The first problem was that he'd almost forgotten he was rooming with Sebastian. Lopez & Smythe had beaten the Italian world bronze medalists, Rossi & Bianchi, in the short dance, and Sebastian's smug expression could practically be seen from space. Kurt had also run into Jacob Ben Israel and his stupid video camera in the hallway, and he'd started shouting rude questions at Kurt.

"What's got your panties in a twist?" Sebastian finally said as Kurt wrenched the blankets back on his bed.

"Nothing," he said, lying down with a huff. "Just Jacob Ben Israel shouting at me to welcome back the old Kurt and say he missed me at Nationals and Worlds."

Sebastian sighed as he climbed into his own bed. "Are you really going to let that troll get to you?"

"I don't know," Kurt said, turning to face Sebastian slightly. "But it's not just him. I've been listening to it my whole life. I 'don't deliver under pressure.' I'm 'too fragile.' I'm 'not a fighter.' As if anyone knows what I've had to fight to be here." Kurt was practically shouting by the time he got to the end of his speech. He probably sounded a little bit extreme, but he was just so tired of that being his story.

Sebastian gave him a judgmental look. "Seriously, Kurt? Fuck them. Turn off the internet. Don't listen to what other people say. You'll only prove them right if you do."

Kurt just blinked at Sebastian for a moment. He knew that Sebastian was right, of course, but he hadn't expected _Sebastian_ of all people to say something supportive. "I didn't know you cared," Kurt said finally.

"I don't. I just hate listening to you whine like a little girl about nothing," Sebastian said, glaring at him.

That was the Sebastian Kurt had expected. It was actually oddly comforting to know Sebastian was the same asshole as always. Instead of going another few rounds, Kurt just rolled his eyes and flicked his lights off.

Kurt was retying his blue paisley scarf for the third time when Sebastian stumbled into their room the next night. He was laughing and shouting back out the door at whoever was standing there.

When Sebastian finally shut the door, Kurt said, "Starting early?"

Sebastian laughed. "Pretty much always."

Kurt finally decided that his scarf was perfect and turned from the mirror to look at Sebastian. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for the banquet?"

Instead of answering, Sebastian looked Kurt up and down slowly. "Well then. Don't you clean up nicely."

Kurt decided to take that as the compliment he wasn't sure it was supposed to be and blushed slightly. "Yeah, well, if I'm going to have to wear sweatpants and leggings ninety percent of the time, I'm going to put some effort in the rest of the time."

Sebastian nodded and crossed to the closet. "Well, it seems to be worth it."

Rather than sitting around awkwardly while Sebastian changed, Kurt slipped into the bathroom to fix his hair. When he came back out, he found Sebastian straightening his tie in the mirror. Kurt had to do a bit of a double take himself. He hadn't really expected Sebastian to look quite so polished. His blue suit fit him perfectly, and the red gingham shirt and solid blue tie he was wearing with it were much more fashionable that Kurt had been expecting, considering Sebastian's usual wardrobe.

Sebastian caught Kurt staring at him in the mirror and winked. "So I'm guessing I look okay?"

"Well, I won't be embarrassed to admit to knowing you."

"Excellent. Exactly the response I was going for," Sebastian said as he stepped into the bathroom.

Kurt was done getting ready, but it was a bit too early to leave, so he leaned against the bathroom door frame to continue talking to Sebastian. "Impressive win today," he said.

That brought an insufferably smug smile to Sebastian's face. "We were impressive, weren't we? Step one on our way to the Olympic podium."

"Don't get too excited. It's only October," Kurt said with a laugh, but he understood why Sebastian was pleased. Ice dancing was the most political of the four skating disciplines, since teams so rarely made errors, and it was important to establish your ranking against the top teams early in the season. Beating the world bronze medalists put Santana and Sebastian firmly in the conversation for an Olympic medal.

"How about I tell you nice job sticking it to Jacob Ben Israel instead?"

Kurt grinned at the memory of Jacob's face in the mixed zone after Kurt's flawless long program. Kurt had finished first in the long program but only second overall. However, he'd landed two quads in the same program for the first time in his career, totally blowing away the blogger's prediction that Kurt had lost the jump completely. "He did look like he had sucked on a lemon, didn't he?"

"It was incredibly satisfying," Sebastian replied as he pointed a bottle of hairspray at his head. "You should definitely shut him up as often as possible."

"Conveniently, that works right into my plans for the year," Kurt said with a laugh. Kurt's goals were, first, to make the Olympic team and, second, to win a medal. If he did, Jacob would probably die of shock.

Sebastian took one more look in the mirror and then turned to Kurt. "Perfect. Ready to get out of here?"

"You mean am I ready to watch you get wasted and do something embarrassing? Always."

Sebastian narrowed his eyes at Kurt. "Something embarrassing? I would never," he said, and then he opened the door. "Someone embarrassing, though. That's definitely a possibility."

Kurt rolled his eyes as he walked out the door. "Yeah, well try to go back to his room, okay?"

* * *

The week and a half between Skate America and Cup of China passed even more quickly than Kurt had expected. He had a few changes to make to his programs to improve his scoring potential, and he spent the rest of the time just polishing them to what he hoped would be perfection.

It seemed like he'd barely had time to unpack before he was packing again for the trip to Beijing. There was a fairly large group from McKinley Ice Arena traveling to China: along with Kurt, Santana, and Sebastian, Rachel and Finn had also been assigned to Cup of China. Of course, this meant that their three coaches-Coach Bieste, Coach Sylvester, and Coach Tibideaux—were also with them.

Kurt figured this meant he had a pretty good chance of avoiding spending quite as much time with Sebastian on this trip. That hope lasted until their flight to Detroit landed, and they were all standing around the gate where they would board their second flight: the thirteen and a half hour flight to Beijing. They compared boarding passes to see who had ended up sitting next to who, and Kurt realized in horror that he was sitting next to Sebastian.

"You have got to be kidding me," he said when Sebastian winked at him. "Rachel, you have to switch with me. He's going to drive me insane!"

Rachel gave him a withering look. "Why? Because it doesn't matter if he drives me insane?"

She had a point. Sebastian wasn't quite as amused by Rachel as he was by Kurt, but that didn't mean he'd leave her alone. "This is the worst competition of my life already," he said, burying his face in his hands.

"Kurt, can I point something out?" Rachel asked.

"Fine. It's not like you can make this any worse."

Rachel patted him on the shoulder in a way that was supposed to be comforting but was actually just irritating. "Have you noticed that you don't actually hate Sebastian?"

Kurt spun around to look at her. "What are you talking about?" He and Sebastian had been butting heads since they were teenagers. Of course Kurt hated him.

"Quinn said you were getting along pretty well at Skate America!" She said, sounding defensive.

He glared at her. "Quinn talks too much. And I wasn't getting along with him; he was my roommate. I was just stuck with him!"

Rachel shrugged. "Okay, but you do realize you also had lunch with him on Monday?"

"We were in the middle of an argument about music!" This was technically true, but Kurt didn't want to admit that he'd had fun arguing with Sebastian.

"I don't usually choose to eat with people who I find insufferable, no matter what the topic. But if you say so."

At this point, Kurt was grateful to hear them call for boarding until he remembered that getting away from Rachel only meant getting stuck with Sebastian.

Once they boarded the plane, Kurt worked on setting his stuff up just right. He wanted to have everything he would need to fall asleep in reach so that he could go to bed as soon as everyone was finished boarding. It would already be midnight in Beijing when they took off, so he had to try to get as much sleep as possible right then to try to fight jet lag.

Sebastian pulled his iPod and water out of his backpack and then mostly watched Kurt arrange himself with a curious expression on his face. "Is everything complicated with you?" he asked finally.

"Yes!" Kurt snapped. Because of course he couldn't even get situated without Sebastian making some sort of comment.

Kurt had expected Sebastian to have more to say, but he just nodded and turned his iPod on.

As soon as the plane took off, Kurt settled down to sleep. He had only closed his eyes for a minute or two when Sebastian started poking him. "Kurt. Kurt. Kurt. Kurt. KURT!"

"What, Sebastian?" Kurt said, without moving.

"Do you want to join the mile high club?"

Well that hadn't been a question Kurt had expected. For a moment, he wondered how Sebastian would back track his way out of it if Kurt actually said yes. But he wanted to sleep more than he wanted to find out. "No, Sebastian, I do not want to have sex with you in an airplane bathroom."

Sebastian sighed in response, and Kurt resumed his attempt at sleep. Only seconds later, Sebastian was poking him again. "Kurt. Kurt. KURT!"

"Sebastian!" He said, and pulled his sleep mask off to glare at the boy sitting next to him and looking entirely too perky. "The whole mask and ear plug thing is supposed to indicate that I am trying to sleep and am not available to entertain you! I have to sleep at the beginning of the flight or my schedule will be completely out of wack." Kurt knew he sounded pretty intense by the end of his rant, but he wanted Sebastian to get the message.

"Okay, okay, I'll let you sleep," Sebastian said, putting both hands up in a calming gesture. "But just one thing."

Kurt sighed and flopped back into his seat. He figured he'd probably have to let Sebastian say what he wanted to in order to get any peace. "Okay. _One_ thing."

"I know you like to control everything when you compete, but you're never going to make everything go right," Sebastian said, resting his hand on Kurt's arm and looking earnest, of all things. "No matter how many times you pace before a competition, or what time the bus gets you there, or what music comes on before you skate, or whether you're wearing your lucky dance belt, in the end you're going to be all you have out there. Try not to let all the details get in the way of you performing the way we all know you can."

Kurt just blinked at Sebastian for a moment. Since when did Sebastian give a crap about how Kurt prepared for a competition? Since when did Sebastian even notice how Kurt prepared for a competition? Kurt was starting to wonder if Sebastian possibly had a concussion. "Sebastian, I …"

Sebastian just rolled his eyes and reached out to pull Kurt's mask back over his eyes. "Go to sleep, Kurt."

"I don't have a lucky_ dance belt_," Kurt said, not wanting to let Sebastian have the last word.

"Sure you don't."

* * *

Kurt actually managed to get about six hours of sleep before he drifted back into consciousness. Sebastian was asleep beside him, so Kurt had a couple of hours to himself before Sebastian woke up to bother him again.

By the time Sebastian actually did wake up, Kurt was bored and restless. He didn't feel like watching a movie, his book wasn't holding his attention, and he didn't want to listen to music. Lacking anything else to amuse himself, Kurt decided to start a conversation with Sebastian the only way he knew how: by talking about skating.

"So you never did answer my question on Monday. Why _Requiem_?"

Sebastian looked a bit surprised that Kurt was talking to him voluntarily, but he covered quickly. "We really just wanted something that looked as little like the programs Schuester gave us as possible."

Kurt couldn't help but laugh. Apparently Sebastian and Santana had not been unaware of what everyone else had been saying about them. "Okay, but why are you doing the _Requiem Mass_ in the wrong order?"

"You mean _Lacrimosa_ before _Dies Irae_?" When Kurt nodded, Sebastian continued with a shrug. "It works with the story of the dance."

Kurt grinned. "Oh, it has a story? Do tell?" Ice dancers always seemed to have some sort of complicated story to their programs. Usually, you couldn't actually tell by watching what it was supposed to be.

"Shut up," Sebastian said, crossing his arms in response to Kurt's teasing. Kurt motioned for Sebastian to continue. "Fine. Basically my wife dies, and I curse God for her death. Santana is a fallen angel who shows up to tempt me into taking revenge. In the Dies Irae section, she's won me over, and I've fallen with her into sin."

Kurt had to process this for a minute. From what he'd seen of Sebastian and Santana's free dance, it actually sort of worked. "Well, if anyone could choreograph a program with that story that made sense, it would be Mike Chang."

Mike was a former ice dancer whose career had been cut short by injury a few years ago. He'd switched to doing choreography full time and now did the programs for most of the McKinley skaters, including Kurt.

'So what about you?" Sebastian asked. "Why _Les Mis_?"

Kurt smiled. "My mom loved musicals. _Les Mis_ was her favorite, and, since it's an Olympic year, I thought I'd do something for her."

"And here I figured you were doing _Bring Him Home_ because you were trying to make people cry." Sebastian said, and, for once, Kurt appreciated that Sebastian's teasing made it hard for the discussion of Kurt's mom to make things tense. He didn't need Sebastian giving him pitying looks.

"No, that's the _Romeo and Juliet_ short program. Apparently, Mike thinks I have a talent for sad stories?"

Sebastian gave Kurt a considering look. "He might be right."

"Well, let's just hope my season doesn't turn out to be as tragic as my music!" Kurt said, with a slightly nervous laugh. It always made him uncomfortable when Sebastian looked at him too intensely. Which, come to think of it, Sebastian had been doing a lot lately.

Sebastian seemed to think that the conversation needed an abrupt topic change, because the next thing he said was, "So speaking of your love life—"

"What?" Kurt said, interrupting. "No we weren't!"

Sebastian just plowed on as if Kurt hadn't spoken. "-Are you excited to see Elliott Gilbert this weekend?"

Kurt groaned in response. "Why does _everyone_ seem to think this is such a big deal? Elliott and I are friends. It's not like this is the first time I've seen him in the last four years!" Elliott Gilbert was another US singles skater. He and Kurt had known each other for ages. Elliott had trained with Coach Bieste when they were younger, and they'd dated for about a year when they were seventeen. They'd broken up amicably when Elliott had changed coaches and moved to LA.

For some reason, everyone continued to make comments whenever he and Elliott were in the same place. He wasn't sure if they found it so fascinating because Elliott had been Kurt's first serious relationship, because he was the only skater Kurt had ever dated, or for some other reason Kurt wasn't getting, but it was exhausting.

Sebastian shrugged and grinned. "It just seemed like a good topic of conversation is all."

"Sebastian, I know you're always anxious to talk about everyone you've ever slept with, but I actually try to be discreet!" Kurt said, and then he stuck his headphones in his ears. He had no idea why he'd thought talking to Sebastian would be a good idea.

It was even more annoying when Sebastian's response was just to laugh at him.

* * *

Thursday morning, Kurt was stretching on the arena concourse in preparation for his practice session when Elliott jogged by him. As soon as he saw Kurt, he turned around and jogged back to stand next to him.

Kurt laughed at Elliott's sudden about-face. "Oh, there you are! Did your skates get here?" Kurt asked, straightening out of his stretch and reaching out to give Elliott a hug.

"Yes, thank god. Delivered to the hotel this morning," Elliott replied, shaking his head. The skaters and coaches from LA had flown through Tokyo on their way to Beijing, and Elliott's luggage somehow hadn't been put on the plane to China. Of course, his skates were in his checked luggage. It was pretty much every skater's nightmare. People had lost major competitions because their skates had never showed up. Elliot had gotten lucky this time, with his skates showing up before his first practice.

Just then, Kitty Wilde walked by dragging a rolling suitcase. She looked them both up and down slowly and said, "Good luck with that, Gilbert," then kept walking.

Kurt stared after her for a moment. Kitty was the US national champion, the reigning world silver medalist, and Elliott's training mate in LA. She was, quite frankly, terrifying. Once she was finally out of sight around the corner, Kurt turned back to Elliott, who mostly looked amused. "So are all of your friends giving you shit about my being here?" Kurt asked.

"Every single one of them," Elliot said with a laugh. "I think our break up is disappointing to them in its lack of drama."

"Same with McKinley. I can't even figure out what they think it is we're going to do."

Elliott shrugged. "Cat fight in the middle of the team dinner?"

"Either that or we were supposed to jump each other and start making out in the middle of the hotel lobby," Kurt replied, grinning. That was probably basically what everyone expected.

Just then, _Smooth Criminal_ began to play, and Elliott glanced down at the ice where the second group of ice dancers was practicing. "Speaking of jumping people in the lobby, Sebastian Smythe certainly looks good in his costume."

Kurt looked down at the ice to see Sebastian and Santana running through their short dance. Sebastian's costume wasn't anything much-just black pants, a white shirt with the top few buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and an undone black bowtie-but Kurt had to admit that he did look good. The intensity of his gaze on Santana as her hips moved under his hands didn't exactly hurt.

For a minute, Kurt just watched them practice, then he shook himself and turned back to Elliott. "Too bad about his personality, right?"

"Is he still giving you shit?" Elliot asked.

Kurt's eyes flicked back down to Sebastian, and he decided to be honest. "I don't know what he's doing anymore. Sometimes he acts like we're actually friends. Sometimes he's the same asshole he always was. I just figure I can't worry about it. I have work to do."

"You certainly do, Mr. World Medalist," Elliott said, grinning as he draped an arm around Kurt's shoulders. "So how did you figure it all out?"

Kurt laughed and leaned into him. "I don't know if I'd say I figured it all out," he replied, watching the ice dancers skate by as he thought about it. But he knew what Elliott meant. Coach Bieste had told him that he'd looked much more settled over the last year, and it had shown in his results as well. He was trying not to think about it too much. He was afraid it would disappear if he did. Finally, Kurt had an answer for Elliott, "I think that, before Nationals last year, it finally really occurred to me that I could do this. And the more I believe it, the easier it gets." That wasn't a totally accurate answer, but it probably wasn't far off.

Elliott squeezed Kurt's shoulders a little tighter. "Well, good. Because you can."

* * *

**Rumors and Drama at Cup of China!**

_by Jacob Ben Israel_

And for once I don't mean coaching rumors! So before I get to the juicy bits, let's talk about the results!

Kurt Hummel once again confused everyone watching by skating two competent programs in China. I have to admit that he's held up under the pressure of the Olympic season better than I would have expected, but the high stakes situations are yet to come. But credit where credit is due. Hummel's short program to Nino Rota's _Romeo and Juliet_ was absolutely flawless and built him a large enough lead that one popped triple Axel in his free skate couldn't stop him from winning his first ever Grand Prix event, especially not with two clean quad toes already completed. This win, combined with his second place finish at Skate America, also earns him his first trip to the Grand Prix Final in Vancouver. Elliott Gilbert skated in his first event of the season. With his bronze medal this weekend, we're allowing ourselves to hope that he can beat out Jesse St. James for the third spot on the Olympic team.

Reigning world champions Edison & Crawford took their first Grand Prix gold of the season, scoring a convincing victory over American champions Lopez & Smythe. It is worth noting, however, that last year the British champions were beating the Americans by 25 points or so. This year the margin was a much more reasonable 15 points. Combined with Lopez & Smythe's win over the world bronze medalists, Rossi & Bianchi, at Skate America, is it fair to say that they now look like the favorites for the Olympic bronze medal? Only time (and possibly the Grand Prix Final) will tell.

In pairs, China once again reinforced their dominance by sweeping all of the medals. And the US once again proved that they don't have a single pairs team that can jump. It's getting embarrassing. I don't want to talk about it anymore.

In the Ladies' event, world silver medalist Kitty Wilde looked a lot less invincible than usual! Ms. Wilde claims that she is suffering from a sinus infection that she picked up on the plane, but we at this humble blog suspect that she was most likely suffering from a case of Olympic season nerves. Thankfully she got her nerves-I mean infection-under control before the long program and was able to pull herself back up to second and earn herself a trip to the Grand Prix Final as well. Looks like the US will already be well represented in Vancouver, and we're only half way through the series!

Now for the juicy gossip. Now, usually this is where I'd tell you all of the rumors about Sebastian Smythe, but, shockingly, there aren't any this time around. No, these rumors are even juicer. Our intrepid reporter caught ex-boyfriends Elliott Gilbert and Kurt Hummel canoodling in the stands before practice on Thursday. Are things heating up in the US Men's event? Because a reunion between those two would definitely create an interesting dynamic at Nationals!

* * *

"Can you believe he said Elliott and I were 'canoodling'? We hugged! Can't people even hug anymore?" Kurt knew that he was ranting, but he couldn't help it. It wasn't enough that Jacob Ben Israel was always implying that Kurt was about to fall apart at any minute; he had to imply things about Kurt's love life (or lack thereof), too? It was ridiculous!

"Are you even listening?" Mercedes asked through the phone.

Kurt mentally shook himself. He actually hadn't been listening to Mercedes at all. She'd tried to change the topic, and he'd continued to complain about Jacob. "Um. Want to say it again?"

Mercedes sighed. "You are lucky I love you."

"I know I am. Come on, tell me again."

"Okay, fine. But if you miss it this time, I'm never listening to you rant about that gossip hound again," Mercedes said with a laugh.

That was a pretty serious threat! Kurt had to rant to someone. "You have one hundred percent of my attention."

"Good. The boys are having a party at their house next weekend, and we've decided that you should come. You can bring Finn and Rachel."

Kurt sighed and flopped back onto his bed. This wasn't the first time Mercedes had tried to convince him to come to a party at her boyfriend's house. The fact that her boyfriend, Sam, and his roommate, Artie, happened to also live with Blaine always made their parties tempting. Kurt didn't have a lot of friends who weren't skaters, and these parties always included basically all of them. But Kurt only had about four weeks until the Grand Prix Final. He couldn't afford to get distracted. "A party, Mercedes?"

"Don't be that way, Kurt. You have to have fun at some point. If you die of stress before the Olympics, you definitely won't medal!" Mercedes said with a pleading note in her voice. Kurt really wanted to say no, that his training was too important for him to do anything stupid, but he had a feeling that Mercedes might actually be right. This was close to the longest stretch he'd have between competitions all year, and it couldn't hurt to blow off some steam. _Probably_.

After a few minutes of silence, which Mercedes sat through patiently, Kurt finally said, "Finn will want to bring Puck." Puck was Finn's best friend from Lima, and he loved nothing more than a good college party.

Mercedes squealed. "Bring whoever you want as long as you come! This is going to be the best party ever!"

Kurt sort of hoped it wasn't that exciting.

* * *

The plan was simple: Kurt, Rachel, Finn, and Puck would drive to the party together. Finn would be the designated driver. The skaters would leave by two am. If Puck wasn't ready to leave yet, he'd stay at Blaine's house, and Finn would pick him up in the morning. It seemed like nothing could go wrong.

Of course, the plan had been counting on the fact that Finn was a very responsible designated driver. They hadn't really considered the possibility that Finn might set his glass of non-alcoholic punch down next to someone else's glass of jungle juice and not realize that he was drinking out of the wrong cup until he'd finished the whole thing. And, of course, by the time this happened it would be almost time for them to go home, and the other three members of their party would already be drunk.

"I am not sleeping on the floor, Finn Hudson! I can't afford to screw up my back weeks before the Grand Prix Final," Kurt said. If he'd been a bit more sober, he probably would have thought twice about yelling at his stepbrother on the front porch of Blaine's house, but as it was he didn't care.

Finn sighed and leaned against the porch railing. "Then find someone to give us a ride home, Kurt. That's the best I can do."

They'd all been wracking their brains for the last five minutes trying to think of who they knew in Columbus who would be awake and willing to pick them up. The problem was that pretty much everyone they would have called in this situation was already here and drunk.

"We could call someone from the rink?" Rachel suggested.

Kurt just glared at her. "Like who? Are you going to call Carmen Tibideaux at two in the morning and tell her that you need a ride home from a college party?"

"Obviously not, Kurt," Rachel replied. "But really, between the three of us we must know someone."

Kurt sighed and pulled out his phone, switching to the McKinley rink group. Scrolling through the names just confirmed what Kurt had said in the first place. Everyone in there was either at the party or absolutely someone he would not wake up in the middle of the night. Then he got to the last name on the list.

"Oh, fuck," he said. Rachel raised her eyebrows at him. "I have someone we can call."

Sebastian's number was only in his phone in the first place because they'd shared a room at Skate America. Kurt was pretty sure that Sebastian was just going to tell him to fuck off, but he had to try.

The phone rang twice before Sebastian answered. "Kurt?" He sounded surprised but not like he'd been woken up.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm sorry if I woke you."

"Wasn't actually asleep yet," Sebastian said, although he sounded grumpy. "What do you want?"

Kurt took a deep breath. Sebastian seemed pretty reasonable, but he didn't know what Kurt was asking. "Rachel, Finn, and I are sort of drunk and stranded on campus at OSU."

Sebastian sighed. "So you need someone to come rescue you, and everyone you actually like is unavailable?"

"Pretty much," Kurt said. He was pretty sure that if he'd been sober he would have thought of a better way to say that. He was apparently a little too drunk for tact.

"Okay, fine. Where are you?"

Kurt rattled off Blaine's address and hung up before he registered the fact that Sebastian was actually coming to pick them up. The whole thing was very confusing. He and Sebastian were getting along more than they used to, Rachel had been right about that, but Sebastian still wasn't someone he counted as a friend. Not to mention that Sebastian had never seemed like the kind of guy who dragged himself out of bed to rescue anyone, let alone three people who he barely tolerated. Kurt would have to add this situation to his list of things he no longer understood about Sebastian.

"Who was that?" Finn asked.

"Apparently, Sebastian Smythe is going to give us a ride," Kurt said, and then he went back inside to wait.

It was only about fifteen minutes before Sebastian showed up. Kurt was relieved both that Sebastian hadn't had to travel very far to get them and that he didn't have to spend any more time waiting. Since he was the one who had gotten them a ride, Kurt decided that he should get shot gun. He attempted to get into the car smoothly, but he ended up whacking his head on the doorframe.

"Jesus Christ, Kurt," Sebastian said, as Kurt tried to settle into the front seat as if nothing had happened. "I'm pretty sure a concussion won't help your training."

Kurt shot a glare at Sebastian but then got distracted by Sebastian's ensemble. He was wearing a pair of plaid pajama pants with a puffy winter coat, and he looked like he'd just rolled out of bed. The whole thing was distracting on several levels. The first problem was that it reinforced that Kurt had literally dragged Sebastian out of bed, which made him feel more than a bit guilty. The second was that Sebastian was actually unreasonably adorable in pajamas.

This wasn't the first time that Kurt had noticed that Sebastian was attractive, but, being drunk, he was lacking a certain amount of control over his thoughts. He ended up wondering what it would be like to cuddle with Sebastian in his plaid pajamas. This was completely unreasonable because, after all, he'd shared a room with Sebastian. Seeing him dressed for bed shouldn't be that distracting. Also, he was sure Sebastian wasn't even a cuddler. Maybe he didn't even sleep in a bed. Maybe he slept upside down. Like a bat. Kurt didn't want to think about Sebastian any more.

"Thank you for the ride, Sebastian," Rachel said, settling herself primly in the back seat.

Finn hopped in next to her, managing to do so without hurting himself, which seemed unfair. "Yeah, dude, you're a lifesaver!" Finn said, and then he reached his fist between the seats for Sebastian. Sebastian gave Finn's hand a suspicious look but seemed to decide that it would be easier to go along with it, so he reached over with his left hand and returned the fist bump.

"Okay, where are we going?" Sebastian asked once everyone was settled in. Kurt gave the address for the apartment he and Finn shared, and Sebastian started driving.

Kurt had expected the drive to be awkward and silent. Instead, Sebastian made conversation by asking Kurt how he'd liked _Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_, the book he'd been reading on the plane to Beijing. Kurt was so surprised that Sebastian had even noticed what he was reading that he'd just blinked at Sebastian before answering.

When they got to Kurt and Finn's apartment, Rachel proceeded to drag her boyfriend out of the back seat. Kurt opened his door and then turned back to Sebastian. "Thank you. Really. I don't know what we would have done without you."

Sebastian grinned at him. "Eventually you'd have figured out to call a cab. But it's fine. I'd rather that you were home safe. And I'm pretty sure I'd have never heard the end of it if I left you there."

Kurt couldn't help but smile back at Sebastian. "So are you trying to say you're actually human?" Then he mentally scolded himself, because he was pretty sure that he'd just sounded _flirty_. There was no way he'd meant to flirt with Sebastian.

"Don't tell anyone," Sebastian said with a conspiratorial whisper. "And try to get yourself out of the car without sustaining any permanent head injuries?"

Kurt narrowed his eyes at Sebastian and got out of the car carefully. "Bye, Sebastian."

"See you at the rink, sweetheart!"

* * *

Kurt was eating his lunch in the lobby when Blaine dropped in to the seat across from him. "At this point, I'm kind of surprised to see you eating without Sebastian," Blaine said, as he started pulling things out of his lunch box.

"He has a costume fitting," Kurt replied. The few weeks since Sebastian had rescued him from the party had been weird. He knew that he'd been hanging out with Sebastian more than usual, but he hadn't really realized how much until that moment. Apparently, they'd reached the point where people expected them to be together, and Kurt actually knew where Sebastian was when he wasn't around.

"Are they changing the free dance costume again?" Blaine said, rolling his eyes. They'd already gone through a couple of versions of those costumes.

"Yeah, I think it's sort of a nervous habit," Kurt said.

Blaine tilted his head to contemplate Kurt. "It's odd that you know that much about him."

Kurt sighed. "I know. I really do. And lunch isn't the worst part! The worst part is the gym."

"Oh, really?" Blaine said in a suggestive tone.

Kurt dropped his head to the table in frustration. "I can't help it! He's hot! Especially when he's lifting weights." Kurt didn't bother to add that Sebastian was also hot when they were running on treadmills next to each other. Or when he was skating. The whole thing was actually starting to become a huge problem for Kurt.

Blaine raised his eyebrows. "You and Sebastian, huh?"

"No!" Kurt said, sitting back up like a shot. "No me and Sebastian. Absolutely not. He's attractive, sure. But I haven't forgotten who he is. I absolutely do not have feelings for him."

"Okay, but …" Blaine said. When he trailed off, Kurt motioned for him to continue. "Have you ever considered that he might have feelings for you?"

Kurt snorted. He was pretty sure Sebastian was incapable of having feelings. "I haven't, because that's insane. He just finally realized that he was lonely at McKinley and decided I had to put up with him."

Blaine still looked skeptical. "I guess. It's just that sometimes he watches you."

"He _what_?"

"When you skate, I mean. When he's not busy and you're on the ice, sometimes he hangs out by the door and watches."

Well that was sort of creepy, if it was true. Kurt had no idea what to make of it, so he figured he might as well just keep an eye on Sebastian and see what Blaine was talking about. Maybe Blaine was confused.

Blaine apparently decided that Kurt's silence meant he had to elaborate. "It's not as strange as I'm making it sound, I think. He looks like he's trying to figure you out."

"Huh," Kurt said, "maybe I'll ask him about it."

Over the next few days, Kurt kept tabs on Sebastian, and it turned out that Blaine was right. Sebastian did watch him. It probably should have made Kurt uncomfortable, but mostly it made him curious. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was going on with Sebastian. The obvious solution was just to ask Sebastian what he was doing, but somehow Kurt never got around to bringing it up. He couldn't convince himself to disrupt the easy dynamic between the two of them.

Before he really had a chance to broach the subject, it was time for them to head to Vancouver for the Grand Prix Final. Kurt had never been to the Final, but Sebastian and Santana had. Of course, Sebastian still wasn't exactly a fountain of useful advice. He pretty much went with, "It's a skating competition, sweetheart. You skate."

Kurt thought that was easier said than done. It was the last international competition he would compete in before the Olympics, and it was the most difficult field he'd faced since the World Championships where he'd won bronze. The reigning world silver medalist, Nikita Solovyov, had been forced to withdraw from the competition due to a nagging injury, but the field was still stacked with Rory O'Malley, the world champion, Jake Puckerman, the reigning US champion, and two other former world medalists, along with Kurt. Even with only one of the skaters who had beaten Kurt at Worlds in the field, Kurt would have to skate really well in order to medal.

With all of his energy focused on the Grand Prix Final, Kurt couldn't afford to worry about Sebastian.

* * *

"Hey Mr. Consistent! What's your secret?" Sebastian shouted as he skated by Kurt.

Kurt just rolled his eyes and grinned. He couldn't even pretend to be annoyed by Sebastian's teasing; he was far too happy. Kurt had just gotten on the ice for exhibition practice where everyone had gathered to learn the choreography for the exhibition finale. It was guaranteed to be silly and guaranteed to be to music that everyone was tired of, and still Kurt was excited. Only skaters who had medaled at the Grand Prix Final were invited to participate in the exhibition. Kurt had won the silver medal by skating two flawless programs, which had earned him his spot. Even a day after the long programs, Kurt was riding high on the fact that he'd shown that he could compete with (and beat) the best in the world.

Kurt had done a couple of laps around the rink to warm up when Josee, the choreographer, grouped them into the middle of the rink in a line. Kurt wasn't surprised to find that he ended up standing next to Sebastian. "So how does it feel to be on the fast track to an Olympic medal?" Kurt asked Sebastian when Josee took her eyes off them. Santana and Sebastian had won the bronze medal the day before, causing reporters everywhere to declare them to favorites to stand on the Olympic podium.

Sebastian smiled and did a quick spin in place. "Exciting. A little terrifying."

"Sebastian Smythe actually admitting to being afraid?" Kurt said, and there was that flirty tone again. Why didn't he seem to have any control over it? "I never thought I'd see the day."

"I'm a complex human being. You'd be surprised."

Kurt wasn't actually sure he could take many more surprises on the Sebastian front. Becoming friends with Sebastian was already one of the more shocking developments of his life.

Just then, Kurt and Sebastian were interrupted by the sound of someone falling, followed quickly by the other half of the line laughing hysterically. When Kurt whipped his head around, he saw Rory O'Malley sitting on the ice and laughing too hard to get up.

"What the fuck just happened?" Sebastian asked.

"O'Malley just fell over while standing," Santana answered. "Apparently the hangover is winning."

"So I guess that's Irish figure skating team: 0, Beer: 1, right?" Kitty Wilde said from Rory's end of the line. Kurt had to laugh at that. Rory may have been the world champion, but he certainly didn't shy away from embracing the Irish stereotype.

"And people think I'm full of shit when I say that singles skaters can't really skate. I mean, the world champion can't even stand up on his own!" Sebastian said, earning him laughs from the rest of the ice dancers.

Kurt turned back to Sebastian and glared at him. "Say that again, Smythe?"

Sebastian grinned at Kurt. "Clearly I didn't mean you, sweetheart. You have excellent skating skills."

Kurt was spared having to think of a response by Josee skating down the line and demanding their attention. She told them that the music was going to be Avincii's _Wake Me Up_ and then directed them to skate out in order of finish. Everyone was supposed to do whatever highlight move they wanted at center ice and then all the guys would go to one side while all the girls went to the other. Then she shooed them to the entrance to practice just that part.

Since this was pretty much how every exhibition ever started, Kurt wasn't sure it really needed practicing, but he went along with it anyways.

As they skated over to the entrance, Kurt turned to Sebastian and said, "_Wake Me Up_? Really? Not exactly the usual choice for these things."

"Don't complain, or they'll make us do _Shout_ again."

Kurt laughed and took his place in line behind Kitty, who'd won the silver medal in the Ladies' event.

Once they'd all skated out and gone to the appropriate sides of the rink, Josee went over to explain the next part to the girls, leaving the guys to their own devices. Kurt spent the first minute or two tracing sweeping circles on the ice with his blades.

Kurt was interrupted from his reverie when Sebastian caught his eye from where he was standing with a bunch of the other guys and started dramatically mouthing the words of _Glad You Came_, which had just started playing, to him. Kurt laughed, and Sebastian peeled off of the group to skate over to Kurt and serenade him.

"You have a nice voice," Kurt said once the verse ended and Sebastian finished singing. Kurt was surprised that Sebastian could sing. He just didn't think of Sebastian and music together very much, although he probably should have. Sebastian and Santana actually had good musical interpretation when they were given the right piece.

"Yeah, if this skating thing doesn't work out, I'm going to form a rock band," Sebastian said with a wink. "You want to be in it?"

Kurt laughed. "I've always been more Broadway than rock and roll." And yet again, he sounded flirty. How did he keep letting that happen?

Sebastian raised his eyebrows. "Oh really? I might have to hear you sing sometime. But right now I need you to come play with the other children."

"Why?" Kurt said, whining slightly. He had no particular objection to joining the group, but he wanted to hear Sebastian justify it.

"Because right now it's just a giant group of people who only tolerate me."

Kurt laughed. That was probably not quite true. "But I only tolerate you!" he replied. And that was definitely not true, although Kurt still didn't know how that had happened.

"I know," Sebastian said with an over dramatic sigh. Then took both of Kurt's hands and started skating backwards, pulling Kurt along towards the rest of the guys.

Kurt's breath caught at the feeling of Sebastian's bare hands in his; he hadn't been prepared for the swooping feeling in his stomach when they touched. Kurt looked at their joined hands for a moment and then looked up at Sebastian in shock. Sebastian just kept smiling back in his usual sarcastic way, so Kurt pulled himself together enough to say, "I feel like I'm in learn-to-skate again."

"Are you comparing me to a traffic cone, sweetheart?" Sebastian said with a laugh.

"No, you'd never wear that much orange."

They'd reached the rest of the group by then, so Sebastian dropped Kurt's hands and jumped back into the conversation. Kurt nodded along like he was listening, but he was too distracted by the way he could still feel the ghost of Sebastian's hands in his long after they'd stopped touching. For the first time, Kurt wondered if he really might be falling for Sebastian. And if he was, how was it possible he hadn't noticed?

A few minutes later, Josee skated back over to the guys and started explaining the next piece of choreography. "So you guys are going to start skating towards the middle, and then you're all going to twizzle-"

"Maybe not O'Malley," Sebastian cut in loudly enough for everyone to hear. "He's having a rough day."

Everyone else laughed, including Josee, although Rory mostly looked grumpy. "Behave, Sebastian," Josee said once the laughter died down.

Sebastian nodded at Josee, but then leaned down to whisper in Kurt's ear. "Like that'd ever happen."

Sebastian's breath on Kurt's ear raised goosebumps all over Kurt's body. Kurt responded by giving Sebastian a slightly judgmental look that did nothing to dampen Sebastian's grin. All Kurt could think was that he was completely and entirely screwed.

* * *

Sebastian and Kurt ended up seated next to each other again on the flight home from Vancouver. When Sebastian first plopped down into the seat next to Kurt, Kurt assumed it was another coincidence. Sebastian made him suspicious though, when, as he shoved his bag into the overhead compartment, he said, "Santana and I spend too much time together," in response to the question Kurt hadn't asked.

Once they were both settled in to their seats, Sebastian reached into his bag and pulled out the latest issue of _Vogue_. Kurt narrowed his eyes at the magazine in Sebastian's hands. "Wait. You read _Vogue_?"

Sebastian gave Kurt an incredulous look. "I'm a gay figure skater, sweetheart. Did you think I was hiding a secret love of monster trucks or something?"

Kurt laughed. "Well, I have secret car mechanic skills." He should have been annoyed at Sebastian's mildly sarcastic pet name use. He always had been before, but apparently he now had it so bad that he thought it was amusing. Excellent.

"I totally don't believe you."

"It's true! My father owns Hummel's Tire and Lube. After my mom died, I was at the shop whenever I wasn't skating, so I know my way around a car," Kurt said, enjoying Sebastian's surprised look.

"I'm not sure I'd name anything after lube," Sebastian replied with a wink.

Kurt laughed. "Yeah, I didn't really get why that was awkward until I was about thirteen, and by then there was no way I was talking about _lube_ with my dad."

Sebastian just laughed in response, and then they settled into a companionable silence. After a few minutes, Sebastian turned back to him. "Kurt?"

"Yes, Sebastian," Kurt said, wondering what on earth Sebastian was going to say next.

"How did your mom die?" Sebastian asked, looking more than a bit afraid of asking the question.

Kurt didn't really mind being asked by people he actually cared about. It was a part of his life like everything else, so he just answered Sebastian's question. "It was a car accident. The roads were icy, and the driver in the next lane lost control of his car."

Sebastian took a moment to think about this and then said, "Thanks for telling me." After a few more minutes of silence, Sebastian said, "Does this mean I can stop paying for oil changes?"

Kurt whacked Sebastian in the arm with his book in retaliation, although he probably would do Sebastian's oil changes if it meant he got the chance to show off for Sebastian. "As long as you don't need one before the Olympics."

Sebastian fist pumped in celebration, causing Kurt to roll his eyes.

Kurt figured a change of topic was in order, and since Kurt had ended up having to answer a personal question he figured Sebastian should, too. He went with something he suddenly really wanted to know. "So why all the bed hopping?"

Sebastian sighed. "I don't know. I like sex?" he said with a wink, but then he sobered. "But the whole lack of relationships thing wasn't a plan. I just never seem to be in the same place at the same time as anyone."

"I know the feeling," Kurt said. After his relationship with Elliott, he'd had a few short relationships here and there, but nothing that had really felt important. "I feel like every time I try to date a skater, they move across the country, and every time I try to date someone who isn't a skater they end up resenting how crazy my life is." Sebastian nodded, so Kurt continued. "These days, I've sort of figured that maybe it'll have to wait until this is all over."

Sebastian laughed. "Are you suggesting there's life after skating?"

"I would never," Kurt replied, grinning. "Although, now that we're talking about it, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Kurt waited as Sebastian thought about the question. "I've thought about coaching," he said finally. "Kids actually like me. They think I'm funny. It's only around adults that I'm …"

"An asshole?" Kurt finished helpfully, shooting Sebastian an affectionate smile.

Sebastian, of course, didn't take offense at it. He just laughed and said, "Yeah, I don't seem to have any control over that. It just comes out that way."

Kurt had noticed by now, mostly from Sebastian's dealings with Santana and with Kurt himself, that Sebastian was perfectly capable of not being hostile to people he actually knew and liked. He was always sarcastic, but the edge of genuine meanness seemed to disappear when Sebastian liked someone. It occurred to Kurt that being an asshole was mostly a defense mechanism for Sebastian. He had a feeling that Sebastian would be a good coach as long as he was able to relate well to his students. The attitude wasn't Kurt's favorite thing about Sebastian, but these days it was impossible to pretend that he didn't like the person Sebastian was when he was comfortable.

"You working with little kids is something I'd really like to see," Kurt said, enjoying the mental image.

"That could probably be arranged. So what do you want to be, Kurt Hummel?"

Kurt had been giving this some thought lately. He wasn't ready to retire yet, but he figured that thinking of his life after skating as a giant, unknowable void probably wasn't the best idea. Still, he didn't have any concrete plans. "I've thought about going to school. Maybe for fashion design? You know, design things an ice dancer _wouldn't _wear."

"So you won't be bringing your bedazzler with you?" Sebastian asked with a grin.

Kurt glared at Sebastian. "I haven't been all that sparkly in years, if you haven't noticed."

"I've noticed plenty," Sebastian said softly. Kurt didn't really know what to say to that, although he knew he'd have to figure it out at some point, so he just smiled at Sebastian.

An hour into the flight, Sebastian fell asleep on Kurt's shoulder. Kurt was reading _The Girl Who Played with Fire,_ so he just pretended to keep reading nonchalantly while he freaked out internally. Kurt was only just barely beginning to come to terms with his feelings for Sebastian. He'd never meant to even become friends with Sebastian, let alone develop a crush on him, but it had happened without Kurt's permission.

If it were an unrequited crush, it would have been easier to deal with, but Kurt suspected that Blaine had been right about Sebastian's feelings. That made Kurt feel like he was eventually going to have to decide what to do about it, and right now he was completely clueless. It was terrible timing; Nationals were only a month away and the Olympics just a month after that, if they both made the team. And beyond that, Sebastian wasn't the kind of guy Kurt had ever seen himself with. Although, after Sebastian's revelations about his dating life, that seemed particularly unfair.

Coach Bieste disrupted his thoughts when she stopped at their seat on her way to the bathroom. She took in the two of them with a knowing smile and said, "Looks like he's really messing your life up, kiddo."

Kurt rolled his eyes at her sarcastic tone of voice. "I accept that my predictions of disaster might have been a bit out of line."

"You've always seen a lot more disasters coming than ever actually came," she replied and then patted him on the shoulder before she continued on her way.

Kurt watched her go, then tilted his head to look at Sebastian as well as he could. He wondered if he was doing the same thing now: seeing only the potential for disaster instead of the potential for things to work out. It was certainly something to think about.

* * *

Kurt was listening to Coach Bieste's instructions before his run through of his long program, when he caught sight of Sebastian sitting in the stands eating his lunch. They'd been home from Vancouver for a few days, and Kurt had made very little progress on sorting out the tumult of feelings that that trip had caused. His run through went pretty well, although Coach Bieste had notes, as always. Kurt resolutely didn't look to see if Sebastian was watching him for the rest of the practice. He couldn't afford to have whatever was going on between them distract him from his training.

When Kurt finished his practice, he allowed himself to glance up into the stands. Sure enough, Sebastian was still sitting a few rows up and watching him intently. It occurred to Kurt that he wasn't going to be able to avoid talking to Sebastian until after the Olympics. The time had come for an actual conversation.

As soon as Kurt had his skates off, he walked back over to the stands and climbed up the few rows to Sebastian. Sebastian looked a little startled when Kurt showed up, but he quickly hid his surprise. Kurt motioned for Sebastian to scoot over and then plopped down on the bench next to him.

For a minute or two, they just sat watching the Zamboni whirr across the ice. Sebastian was obviously waiting for Kurt to start, but Kurt wasn't quite sure how yet. After a few minutes, he said, "This isn't the warmest place to eat your lunch, you know."

Sebastian laughed dryly. "No, I suppose it's not."

"So why eat here?" Kurt said, scooting closer to Sebastian so he could reach over and steal some trail mix out of the bag Sebastian was holding.

"I think you know why," Sebastian said, watching Kurt's hand rather than looking at him.

Kurt sighed. Apparently, it wasn't going to be that easy to get Sebastian to talk. "I know you came in here to watch me skate, and I know that this isn't the first time," Kurt said, his voice soft. "But I don't know why."

Sebastian looked like he was trying to figure out the right answer, so Kurt nudged Sebastian with his shoulder and, when Sebastian finally looked up at him, he smiled. Sebastian didn't smile back, but he did answer the question. "At first it was just because you were interesting to watch. You're so intensely focused when you practice. It's kind of mesmerizing."

Well, mesmerizing wasn't a bad thing to be, but Kurt wasn't ready to let Sebastian get away with not finishing the thought. He was tired of wondering and tired of dancing around. "And now?"

"Look, Kurt …" Sebastian started, and then he stopped to run a hand over his face. Kurt waited quietly for Sebastian to be ready. When Sebastian did speak again, it was to his shoes. "You don't have to worry about me, okay? I'm not going to make this into anything it's not."

The last few days, Kurt had really thought that he already knew how Sebastian felt about him, but hearing Sebastian confirm it, or at least as close as he was going to get from Sebastian, flooded Kurt with a sense of relief and happiness. That, he supposed, answered any lingering questions he might have had about whether this was really a good idea.

Kurt couldn't help but laugh. "You really are an idiot, you know," he said to Sebastian, who finally met Kurt's eyes with a hurt look. In response, Kurt reached over to where Sebastian's arm rested on his knee and took his hand. Sebastian inhaled sharply when Kurt touched him. "This is something," Kurt said, "if you want it to be."

For a moment, Sebastian just stared at Kurt in stunned silence. Finally, he seemed to work through what Kurt meant, and he turned slightly and leaned in to press his lips to Kurt's. As soon as he realized what was happening, Kurt brought his free hand up to cup Sebastian's cheek and leaned into the kiss.

Just a few days ago, Sebastian taking his hands to pull him across the ice had taken Kurt's breath away, but that was nothing compared to what he felt when Sebastian kissed him. He knew that he was squeezing Sebastian's hand far too tightly, but Sebastian was squeezing back, so it seemed like it was okay. Sebastian's lips moved softly against his, and Kurt felt like he was falling off a cliff. He could only hope that Sebastian was falling with him.

After a minute, Kurt remembered that they were still sitting in the stands in their ice rink, and the next session would be starting soon, so he had to break the kiss gently. When he pulled back, he saw that Sebastian was looking at him in a way that he could only describe as awed. "Are you sure?" Sebastian asked, his voice sounding a little shaky. "I mean, I'd understand if you thought the timing was off."

"The timing is terrible," Kurt said with a laugh. "And I'm still sure, so you should probably ask me out or something."

Sebastian grinned and squeezed his hand again. "Hey, Kurt, you want to go out to dinner tonight?"

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

Kurt drifted awake slowly to the sound of voices in the kitchen. It was Sunday, Kurt's Coach Bieste-mandated day off, so he had no reason to rush to get out of bed. He was a little bit disappointed to wake up alone in Sebastian's bed, but he was optimistic that Sebastian might come back with coffee.

He didn't really register anything that Sebastian and Santana were saying in the next room until he heard Santana say his name. "I see Kurt's here _again_."

"Oh, is he?" Sebastian replied, sarcastically. "He should have let me know he was here."

Santana laughed. "Don't get your panties in a twist, Bas. Not that I think you're wearing any. Just thought I'd point out that you aren't sleeping alone much these days."

"Jealous, Santana?"

"Of your alarming transition to domestic bliss?" Santana asked with a snort. "No, but I do remember you saying something about 'taking it slow.'"

Kurt blushed at this remark. Santana was right, of course. He and Sebastian had agreed to take it slow, but it hadn't worked out that way. They'd only been together for about three weeks, but, when he thought about it, he realized they'd spent five of the last seven nights together. Kurt liked to blame the speed of their relationship on the fact that everything about the rest of their lives was intense right now. It was just nicer to go home from the rink and relax together instead of separately. At another time, Kurt might have freaked out and put on the breaks, but he didn't have the energy to fight against something that was making him happy, as long as it was making Sebastian happy, too.

"I'm a compulsive liar," Sebastian said. "We've been partners for a decade. I don't know why you'd start believing anything I say."

"Sure, Sebastian."

"I'm going back to bed now," Sebastian said grumpily, and Kurt heard the sound of two coffee mugs clinking together.

Kurt had just started to pull himself to a sitting position in anticipation of the arrival of coffee when Sebastian pushed open the door. "Sitting up really seems like overkill," he said when he caught sight of Kurt. Kurt just responded by reaching pathetically for the coffee cup in Sebastian's hands.

"You totally care about coffee more than you care about me!" Sebastian said in mock offense, but he handed the cup to Kurt.

Kurt closed his hands around the warm mug and sighed happily, then he looked back up at Sebastian. "I care about coffee more than _everyone_, Sebastian. This is something you're going to have to accept."

Sebastian walked around the bed to sit down on his own side. He took a sip of his coffee before looking over at Kurt. "That actually might be a dealbreaker."

Kurt ignored him and sipped on his coffee for a few minutes. When he'd made a significant dent, he set the mug on the nightstand and turned to Sebastian. "_Do_ you think we're going too fast?" he asked.

"Heard that, did you?" Sebastian said, setting his own mug down.

"Couldn't help it. You guys have thin walls."

Sebastian laughed. "Yes, I've heard that complaint a couple of times lately." In response, Kurt just raised an eyebrow to let Sebastian know that he wasn't going to get away with his deflection. "You know I don't know anything about this relationship thing, Kurt. I haven't got a fucking clue what we're supposed to do. I just know I want you here."

Kurt was glad to hear it. Sebastian had seemed pretty happy with the whole thing, but Kurt really didn't want to assume things. "Well then, screw what we're supposed to do. I want to be here," he said, reaching out to pull Sebastian in for a kiss.

* * *

**US Nationals Preview**

_by Jacob Ben Israel_

This is it, kids, the US Championships! Our team just touched ground in Boston today. We're going to spend the beginning of the week catching the lower level events, and then we'll have Championship level gossip for you once the seniors take the ice. (Who are we kidding? We know that's why you're here.)

So we thought that, before the action gets going, we'd better get our faithful readers up to speed on the on-ice drama. Obviously, this year there will be a lot more attention on Nationals than usual, with the Olympics barely over a month away! Before we begin our rundown, it's important to remember (and US figure skating wants to make sure you remember) that the US Championships are **not** the Olympic trials. They are the number one criteria for choosing the Olympic team, but international results will also be given a significant amount of weight.

What does this really mean? It means that US figure skating can protect its medal contenders if they happen to crack under the pressure this week. We suspect that what this really means is that, unless they completely fall apart and finish 10th, world silver medalist Kitty Wilde, world bronze medalist Kurt Hummel, and Grand Prix Final bronze medalists Lopez & Smythe are already on that Olympic team. Everyone else will just have to take their chances.

Let's start with the least interesting discipline, shall we? As always, the pairs' event will be a battle for who sucks the least, and, as always, the US only has two entries at the Olympics. Two time national champions Sugar Motta & Joe Hart look to be holding steady at the top of the field, although they cannot afford mistakes. Rachel Berry & Finn Hudson have been surprisingly undramatic this year (too bad for us), and right now look like the most likely candidates for the second spot at the Olympics. In a parallel version of reality where Hunter Clarington develops the ability to land his jumps, he and Andrea Cohen could be in contention for the third spot, but we won't hold our breaths. There are plenty more mediocre teams waiting in the wings, but we're predicting that Motta & Hart and Berry & Hudson are going to Stockholm.

Next up, the dance event. Dance, as always, will be a bit of a snoozer in terms of results. Santana Lopez & Sebastian Smythe would have to get into a catfight at center ice in the middle of their long program not to place top three in this field. Marley Rose & Ryder Lynn will place second, and we predict that the sibling team of Giselle & Canada Carmel will steal the third spot from last year's bronze medalists, Harmony Gerber & Nick Warbler. Harmony has been injured this year, and I sincerely doubt they've made enough progress to take that spot back, although I'd love to be wrong!

Now onto the glamour event (at least for those who don't know figure skating)! The ladies' event. Again, the top two spots should be all sewn up. Kitty Wilde will take first place, even if she has to cut a bitch to keep them out of her way. She did show that she was not quite invincible this year, but I doubt that she'll stumble at Nationals. As long as Brittany Pierce makes it to the ice (preferably without her cat) and doesn't end up lost somewhere in Boston, she should take second. The real blood bath will be for the third spot. Frida Romero was last year's bronze medalist but wasn't old enough to be sent to the World Championships. If she can repeat last year's performance, she could very well be on her way to the Olympics now that she's finally 15 years old. Romero is nothing resembling a consistent performer, however. Beatrice McClaine, who finished fourth at last year's Nationals and took the trip to Worlds in Romero's place, has been up and down this year, but she's definitely in the medal hunt once again. Alexandra Blasucci has also been skating well on the junior circuit this year, and she is old enough to go to the Olympics, if she can shock the older girls.

The biggest unknown quantity is figure skating's favorite teen mother, Quinn Fabray. Fabray was considered the rising star of US Figure Skating when she won the US Championship at only 14 years old and then the next two championships, peaking with her world bronze medal performance at just 16 years old. That particular performance was her best, but also, until now, her last. Fabray was revealed to be pregnant just before the 2008-2009 season. It was quite a black eye for US Figure Skating and sources close to Miss Fabray have hinted that the powers that be strongly encouraged her not to return after that little embarrassment. Looks like she finally struck a deal with them, though, because she made her return this year and was selected by US Figure Skating for a spot at Skate America. Very curious. Fabray put in a surprisingly solid performance at Skate America, but there's no telling how she's progressed in the last few months, once again out of the public eye. I'm sure that if she is selected for the team, US Figure Skating will be happy to help NBC spin her story into a heroic journey!

Last but certainly not least, the US men. For anyone in the know, this is where the real action is. Jake Puckerman spent the first three years of this quad as the undisputed king of American skating, but he never managed to capture that elusive world medal despite always being considered a threat to do so. Last year, his reign was ended by possibly the least likely person of all: former head-case Kurt Hummel. Hummel finished second to Puckerman at Nationals, but, after several of the top men (including Puckerman) imploded at Worlds, Hummel did what Puckerman couldn't do and captured the world bronze medal.

This is, of course, a marketing wet dream for US Figure Skating, which has lead up to this Championship by playing the two of them as rivals. History suggests that, at some point, Hummel should fall apart and allow Puckerman back into the top spot. However, Hummel has shown very few signs of weakness this year. He qualified for the Grand Prix Final ahead of Puckerman and took the silver medal, while Puckerman finished only fourth. The question in this battle is simple: will we return to the status quo of most of the last four years? Or will recent history win out? We have been predicting all year that Hummel can't possibly hold it together all the way through the season, and the pressure of this competition is likely to be more than he's ever felt before, so we see no need to waiver from this prediction. Hummel will falter and end up with the silver, and Puckerman will regain his title.

Just as interesting as the race for the gold is the race for the final spot on the team. Jesse St. James took the third spot at World Championships with his arsenal of jumps and horrifying skating skills, but everyone knows that the US would rather send an actual figure skater to games if at all possible. The best bet for that would be Elliott Gilbert, who performed the best of the remaining US men on the Grand Prix this season. If Gilbert can repeat the performances that earned him the bronze medal at Skate America, the Federation should get their wish! Because we are all pessimists, though, we're going to go ahead and predict that St. James will take that third spot. Brody Weston and Scott Rudin are also capable of playing spoiler for the third spot if they can keep their asses off the ice.

So, that's all we have for our Nationals preview! Stay tuned for event recaps, juicy gossip, and anything else we can get our hands on here at the US Championships!

* * *

There was nothing quite like your first practice at Nationals to get your heart racing. Kurt had about half an hour before his practice session was scheduled to start and he was trying to center himself. He had just finished warming up his long program on the floor, and now he was standing in one of the tunnels that lead to the ice watching the group before him practice. Kurt didn't really have any interest in seeing what they were doing; he just wanted to watch the ice for a while.

Kurt was just starting to feel lulled into a state of calm by the sound of blades on ice and Rachmaninov playing over the loudspeaker when he felt hands on his shoulders. He turned his head slightly to check who his assailant was and found his boyfriend standing behind him. Kurt wasn't particularly surprised to see him. Sebastian's group was practicing right after Kurt's, so Kurt had figured he'd be here somewhere by now.

"I thought we were being discreet?" Kurt said, but he leaned back against Sebastian anyways.

Sebastian moved his hands from Kurt's shoulders to run them up and down Kurt's arms. "Well, we're being discreet compared to some people? I just caught Ryder Lynn making out with his new girlfriend in the hallway of our hotel."

Kurt raised his eyebrows in surprise. Ryder with a new girlfriend was big news. "Oh, really? Anyone we know?"

"Nope. After I interrupted him, he introduced her as Unique," Sebastian said. Kurt laughed. Of course Sebastian would interrupt them. Sebastian knew Ryder pretty well, since Ryder and Marley had started out in Westerville before moving to Detroit, and the two of them had always had a pretty friendly relationship.

"What's she like?"

Sebastian's hands stilled on Kurt's arms while he thought. "Well, she's definitely not Marley, which can only be a good thing for him."

Kurt nodded and then changed the subject. "Are you ready for this, Bas?"

"Probably as ready as I've been in my entire life, actually. Which seems sort of fucked up," Sebastian said with a laugh.

"Seems about right, actually."

"And how are you doing? Aside from your boyfriend's obvious inability to keep his hands to himself?" Sebastian asked and then, as if to prove the point, dropped his left hand from Kurt's shoulder to rest on his stomach instead.

"Well he's a huge problem," Kurt said, resting his left hand on Sebastian's. "But other than that, I don't think the nerves have set in yet. I mean, I definitely feel a little wired, but I also kind of feel like this is mine."

"You think you can hold on to that feeling for the rest of the week?" Sebastian asked. "Because this is absolutely yours." Then he pressed his lips to the side of Kurt's head softly.

"Well, I'll try," Kurt said, and then he spun around so that he could hug Sebastian and bury his face in his boyfriend's neck. Sebastian hugged him back, and Kurt thought that, these days, a lot of things were his that he'd never expected.

Sebastian held on to him for a few minutes before he said, "I hate to break this up, but I think you have a date with that sheet of ice out there."

Kurt laughed and pulled away. "Yeah, I suppose missing that would be a bad start."

* * *

All around him, the other skaters on the Olympic team were chatting loudly and hugging each other. Kurt just leaned back against the wall and watched the madness instead of joining it. It was Sunday evening in the middle of the exhibition at the US Championships, and the entire US team had just been announced for the crowd, starting the second half of the show. Now the whole team was going to skate their exhibitions in reverse order of finish, which meant that Kurt, as the US men's champion, would go second to last. While everyone else skated, Kurt was trying to take as much time as he could to process everything that had happened that day, but he had a feeling he'd get grabbed to talk to the media sooner rather than later.

Kurt closed his eyes for a moment and let the memories of the last day wash over him. It didn't feel like it, but it had only been a few hours ago that he'd been out there skating for the national title. He'd had a close lead over Jake Puckerman after the short program and had skated second to last, right after Jake, in the long program. He could barely remember the skate itself, but he did remember the end. He'd finished his final spin with the roar of the audience in his ears, and when he hit his ending pose he realized that they were all already all on their feet. Kurt had held still for just a moment as he felt the tears rush to his eyes. He had done it: he'd skated a flawless program in possibly the most high pressure moment of his life.

When Kurt had finally moved to take his bows, he's found his father and Carol in the stands. Burt Hummel had one arm wrapped around his wife and the other held up to his mouth to shout louder. Carol had been crying, and when she'd realized Kurt was looking she'd held his gaze and brought one hand up to press against her heart. Kurt knew that the message was "we love you" and "we're so proud."

As soon as he'd gotten off the ice, Coach Bieste had wrapped him in her arms and just said "You did it, Kurt. You did it," while Kurt held on. The wait in the Kiss and Cry had been especially long because of commercials, and Kurt was pretty sure that he'd still managed to hold his breath the entire time. Coach Bieste and Mike, who was with them as his choreographer, hadn't even bothered to say anything. Coach Bieste had held Kurt's hand, and Mike had slung an arm around Kurt's shoulders, and they'd all just waited together.

When the scores came up and Kurt was in first, the crowd had gone wild, and Kurt had jumped to his feet, spun around, and then thrown his arms around Coach Bieste who was standing next to him. They'd both known as soon as he was in first that this meant he was the national champion. Jesse St. James, who was the last to skate, had been more than ten points back from Kurt and Jake, so there was no way he could close the gap.

Kurt had headed back to the athletes' lounge after that to congratulate Jake and Elliott on their performances and wait for Jesse's scores. Kurt had pretended to be neutral, but when the results were announced and Jesse had fallen behind Elliott into fourth place, Kurt threw his arms around Elliott and held him tight. Neither of them said it, not wanting to jinx the selection, but they both knew that this should mean that Elliott was going to the Olympics, too.

Sebastian had been able to get backstage after the competition was over, and Kurt had given the reporters the slip just long enough for Sebastian to lift him off his feet and spin him around. "Told you this was yours," Sebastian had said, grinning wider than Kurt had ever seen him.

"I thought I told you it was mine," Kurt had replied, and then he'd kissed Sebastian quickly before Sebastian had left to find somewhere he could watch Kurt get his medal.

Kurt had teared up again standing atop the podium, but he knew he was allowed. Coach Bieste had told him to do all of his crying and celebrating today, because tomorrow they'd go back to work. When they'd taken their victory lap, Kurt had stopped by the section his parents had moved to and gotten a huge hug from Burt who'd said, "I've never doubted you could do it, kiddo." Kurt had gotten another hug from Carol and then given her the bouquet of flowers that he'd received on the podium.

After the award ceremony, Kurt had met with a few more members of the press and then immediately gone to change into his exhibition costume-a red plaid shirt, white t-shirt, and jeans. There was only half an hour between the end of the medal ceremony and exhibition practice for the men, so he didn't have much time to hang around. He'd taken it pretty easy in the practice, since it wasn't like he needed any warming up, but he'd made sure to run through the details of his exhibition choreography when his music played.

During the hour in between practice and the opening of the exhibition, they'd all tried to eat something light, and then they'd collapsed while the rest of the skaters in the exhibition were arriving and getting ready. After about 20 minutes, Kurt, Jake, and Elliot had received the texts officially informing them that they were members of the Olympic team and that they'd have a press conference at 7:20pm where they would be expected to make a statement. It set them all to thinking about what they'd say.

The schedule meant that the three of them had actually skated in the opening of the exhibition, gone to the press conference, and then gone back to the exhibition in time for the Olympic team announcement.

When Kurt thought through all if it, it felt like he'd lived through several days in the last twelve hours. It was definitely the most overwhelming day of his life so far.

He was disrupted from his contemplation by Finn clearing his throat. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Finn was leaning on the wall next to him. "You okay, little brother?"

"I'm amazing. And I really need a nap," he said, smiling up at Finn. "We're going to the Olympics together."

"I was wondering when you'd notice that," Finn said with a laugh, and then he pulled Kurt into a hug. Kurt had known that Finn and Rachel had officially been named to the Olympic team that morning after they'd won the silver medal the day before, but he hadn't had time to really process it.

"Finn Hudson!" He heard Rachel say over his shoulder. "I'm glad you love your brother, but if you plan to skate in this exhibition we have to go!"

Finn pulled back and rolled his eyes at Kurt before taking Rachel's hand and heading for the ice. Kurt followed them so that he could stand by the curtain and watch their exhibition to _Don't Stop Believing_. When they were finished, he wandered off in the direction of the athletes' lounge to find Sebastian, but he bumped into Quinn instead.

Quinn, who had grabbed the third spot on the Olympic team by less than a point, had skated right before Rachel and Finn and was now standing backstage looking as overwhelmed as Kurt felt.

Once Kurt was next to her, he reached out and pulled her into a hug as well, thinking that he'd probably been hugged more today than at any other time in his life. She relaxed a bit in his arms, and he said, "How does it feel to have proved them all wrong?"

She laughed and pulled back a bit, and Kurt could see that she'd started tearing up. "When I was a little girl and imagined going to the Olympics, I always imagined I'd go as the favorite for the gold medal. And then for a while I thought I wouldn't go at all. This is a lot different than anything I had pictured, but it still feels amazing," she said, smiling up at him. "But I'm not the only one who proved them all wrong today."

"No," Kurt said with a laugh, "I guess you're not. It feels pretty amazing for me, too."

"It's amazing for _me_, too," Sebastian said, as he stepped up to them.

Quinn rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Is this your way of telling me you want your man back, Smythe?" Quinn said, letting Kurt go.

Sebastian laughed and, to Kurt's surprise, wrapped one arm around Quinn's shoulders to give her a quick squeeze. Quinn looked startled at the contact, but not displeased, which made Kurt wonder if Sebastian was starting to grow on her, too. "I don't think Kurt would let me get away with that, so no."

"Well, I won't tell him, but I will go talk to Elliott so you can have him to yourself," Quinn said, with a grin for Kurt before she wandered off.

"I'm pretty sure I don't like you and Quinn talking about me like I'm not here," Kurt said, as he watched her walk away.

Sebastian laughed and stepped into Kurt's space. "I'm pretty sure you'll be able to gang up on me with almost everyone, so I wouldn't worry about it."

Kurt rolled his eyes and reached up to wrap his arms around Sebastian's neck. "I don't know, people seem like they're getting used to you."

"A ringing endorsement, really," Sebastian replied, and then he leaned in to kiss Kurt, running his hands around Kurt's waist under his plaid shirt.

They had only been kissing for a few seconds when they were interrupted by Ryder saying, "I see you have a new boyfriend, Sebastian!"

Sebastian pulled away from Kurt to glare at Ryder while Kurt just laughed. "I'm pretty sure you actually completely had that coming," Kurt said, remembering Sebastian's story from a few days ago.

"Whose side are you on?" Sebastian said, turning his glare on Kurt but barely hiding a smile.

"Oh, I'm always on the side of you getting what you deserve," Kurt replied, which had all three of them laughing.

* * *

**Olympics Preview—What are the chances for the US team?**

_by Jacob Ben Israel_

Okay, first of all, you're going to read a ton of US Olympic team previews over the next couple of weeks. 99% of them will be crap. These reporters have never even seen five minutes of figure skating, and they assume that all American skaters are favorites for Olympic gold. Ignore them. They probably can't even spell the skaters' names.

Looking at all four disciplines, we have determined that the US could come away with anywhere from 0 to 4 medals at this Olympics with the most likely scenario being 2-3 medals. So let's break it down by discipline as always.

First, we'll start with pairs, because it's easiest. Abandon hope all ye who enter here. The US pairs will never win any medals. If they finish top 10, we'll call it a success and go back to wondering why the US can't produce a decent pair. Other than that? There are about five teams contending for a three spot podium, and all of them are equally likely to skate clean or bomb completely.

Next up: the ice dance. As it stands, if everyone skates clean, the podium will be: 1) Edison & Crawford, GBR, 2) Miller & Miller, CAN, 3) Lopez & Smythe, USA. The only big question will be if Rossi & Bianchi can make up the ground they've lost to Lopez & Smythe so far this season. Realistically, this would be a surprise unless Lopez & Smythe make mistakes, but Olympic pressure does funny things to people. Certainly, the Americans must skate clean.

And now the ladies. Reigning world silver medalist Kitty Wilde is, of course, the US's only realistic hope for a medal in the ladies' competition, but she's a good one. Kitty has been relatively consistent in the big moments of her career, although she isn't invincible. Smart money is on Wilde to skate well at these Olympics and grab either the silver medal or bronze medal behind Sunshine Corazon, who has been untouchable for the last two years. I expect that won't change. Neither of the other two US ladies is a real medal threat, but top 10 finishes are very possible.

Last, but certainly not least, the men. I have to say that if there is going to be a big surprise, the men's event may be where it happens. The US has two potential medalists on their team, although I would be surprised to see them both medal. Right now, Kurt Hummel, the reigning world bronze medalist, is right on track for at least the Olympic bronze. Given his success rate with the second quad in his long program, even Olympic silver is very much on the table, regardless of what the other men do. I get the feeling that international judges now consider a clean Kurt Hummel to be second only to Rory O'Malley, but Hummel has not faced reigning world silver medalist Nikita Solovyov since 2013 Worlds. The real question is whether the Kurt Hummel we've seen for the last year will show up here or the Kurt Hummel we all knew before his recent transformation. Hummel has handled the pressure better than I imagined so far, I have to admit. But the Olympics are a whole new world. I doubt there's anyone who could predict what Hummel will do on Olympic ice. Jake Puckerman also has medal hopes. He is slightly behind in tech content, but we've seen that the world field is very volatile. You never know how many skaters will skate clean at any given moment. Puckerman will need other men to make mistakes in order to make the podium, however.

The big question is what exactly Rory O'Malley will do at these Olympics. The reigning world champ has been unbeatable when clean over the last four years, but he hasn't always been perfect. I'm sure we all remember his meltdown at 2012 Worlds, which we attributed to the pressure of being the defending champ. He also had a rough Olympics back in 2010. If he can skate clean, the gold is his, but the judges have not been giving him a huge buffer over Nikita Solovyov or Kurt Hummel this year. I still expect Rory to take the gold but, unlike Edison & Crawford in dance or Sunshine Corazon in Ladies, he could very well be upset.

* * *

It wasn't until he was actually there that Kurt really understood what people meant when they said that the Olympics were like nothing you'd ever experienced. He'd heard other people's stories, of course, and he'd expected to be nervous. He just hadn't realized that he really didn't have anything to compare most of the experience to. In a lot of ways, he'd still gone into it expecting the Games to just be like the World Championships but bigger. It turned out that they really weren't.

It had started with team processing, where he was handed a pile of team USA gear larger than seemed reasonable. The athletes' village was the next surprise, with its small rooms that didn't really compare to the nice hotels team USA usually stayed in, its cafeterias, and its crowd of athletes from all different sports all over the world. Logically, Kurt knew that this was what was coming, but he was just so used to the figure skating bubble they normally lived in. And, if he was being honest, he hadn't expected it to be such an insane party. Even on early nights in the village when no one's events had finished, it was clear that some people were here for the experience and weren't that worried about how well they'd perform. Either that or they didn't think that spending their first several days hooking up with anyone who'd have them would get in the way of their performance.

Thankfully, Kurt had been assigned to room with Jake. It was a perfect situation, because Jake was just as serious about their competition as he was, and his girlfriend was also in the village, so Kurt hoped he wouldn't be doing too much bed hopping. Kurt had spent the last several years of his life blocking out everything except training, and he wasn't going to let the Olympic Village party ruin that.

Then, of course, there had been the Opening Ceremony. It was the most insane thing he could have imagined. Kurt had just kept repeating "holy shit" to Sebastian as they walked into the arena with the rest of the US team, which had made Sebastian laugh. Kurt had stood on the floor of the huge stadium and stared up at the crowd and tried to memorize everything. It was the one moment when he was really allowing himself to be in awe of the fact that he was at the Olympics.

Kurt had been a bit worried that Sebastian would be a distraction, but overall he'd actually been pretty grounding. Sebastian and Santana knew they were fighting for a medal, and they weren't about to relax now. Kurt had a feeling that Sebastian had actually been trying to absorb some of Kurt's focus just by being around him. They'd tried to carve out quiet moments together whenever possible with the agreement that once they were done they could really party.

Sebastian had, however, taken the fact that they were both Olympians as a challenge to make up the corniest Olympic pick up lines possible. When they'd first arrived in Stockholm, Sebastian had said, "I'll colonize your Olympic Village." During the Athletes' Parade, he'd snuck up to Kurt and whispered, "I'd love to march in _your_ opening ceremony." Then, in the middle of a make out session in Sebastian's room while Ryder was out, Sebastian had looked at him seriously and said, "Kurt, I just wanted to congratulate you on winning the Olympic gold medal in making me horny. Ready to climb on the podium?" Kurt had pushed Sebastian off of him and covered his face to laugh hysterically, which was probably the opposite of the intended effect. Although Kurt wasn't really sure what Sebastian was trying to accomplish.

On the first Sunday of the games, Kurt and Sebastian had both had early morning practices and then a fairly long break, so they'd met up in Kurt's room. Kurt was staring out the window at the village when Sebastian pushed the door open and came over to drape his arm around Kurt's shoulders.

"How was practice?" Kurt asked, leaning into Sebastian's side.

"Good. I thought Santana was going to cut a bitch when the Millers cut us off during our run through, but so far there's been no actual violence."

Kurt laughed. He probably would have been on Santana's side if she had. The Miller siblings had always been obnoxiously aggressive in practice. "Well mine was pretty uneventful. Everything still appears to be in working order."

"Everything?" Sebastian asked, turning slightly so he could look Kurt up and down suggestively.

"You're ridiculous. All of my _jumps_ are in working order," Kurt said, rolling his eyes. He could just feel Sebastian working up to more bad Olympic pick up lines.

"You know, Kurt," Sebastian said, "I'm really making a lot of sacrifices for you here!" Sebastian was obviously trying to look serious as he said this, but Kurt could see the amusement in his eyes.

Kurt raised his eyebrows. He always enjoyed watching Sebastian get himself in trouble. "Oh, really?"

"Yes!" Sebastian said, dropping his arm from around Kurt's shoulders so that he could gesticulate while he spoke. "Think of all the Olympic Village sex I could be having! They give out _unlimited free condoms _here_, _Kurt. These are my people!"

Kurt rolled his eyes. It actually was probably terrible timing for someone like Sebastian to be in a relationship for the first time, but Kurt also knew Sebastian wasn't actually upset about it. Although that didn't mean he'd let Sebastian off the hook for his joke. "Oh, well then," Kurt said, narrowing his eyes at his boyfriend. "If you're really broken up about it, maybe you should just go sleep with whoever you want." Then he turned and started to walk towards the door.

Kurt hadn't gotten more than a step away when Sebastian reached out to grab his shoulder and pull him over so that he could back Kurt up against the window. Kurt still sometimes forgot how ridiculously smooth Sebastian could be when he wanted to. Once Sebastian had Kurt where he obviously wanted him, he said, "Sounds like a plan," and then leaned in to kiss Kurt.

Kurt responded eagerly—it wasn't like they had anything else to do that afternoon-and pulled Sebastian closer to him. After a few minutes, Sebastian managed to get Kurt's several layers of shirts off over his head, and Kurt decided that he didn't actually want to do this up against the window where the entire Village could see. Instead, he pushed Sebastian until he flopped backwards onto the bed and climbed on top of him. Before Kurt could get his mouth back on Sebastian's, Sebastian reached up to run his thumb over Kurt's cheek. "You know the only person I want to sleep with is you, right?"

After two months, it still surprised Kurt how sweet Sebastian could be when he tried. In response, Kurt leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Sebastian's lips. When he pulled back, he said, "That's really too bad, because you're far too cheesy for me. I'm going to leave you for the hot speed skater down the hall."

Sebastian smirked and, all of a sudden, Kurt was on his back with Sebastian hovering over him. "Come light the Olympic torch with me, baby," Sebastian said, looking at Kurt intently.

Kurt laughed. "No, I'm definitely leaving you here. Think how much better you'd do with the Swedish men. They wouldn't understand anything you were saying. It would be perfect!"

Sebastian rolled his eyes and leaned in to kiss behind Kurt's ear and then down his neck. Kurt arched into him and thought that, clearly, Sebastian had already figured out the best ways to shut him up.

* * *

Kurt was pretty sure that the schedule for the day of the men's long program was specifically designed to torture him. His morning practice was at 10:15, which meant he woke up at about 8am in order to get over there and be fully ready to go on the ice. He was off the ice again by 11am, and had nearly ten hours to kill before he could really start getting ready to compete.

This gave him an unreasonable amount of time to mull over all the things he was trying not to think about. He wasn't, for example, supposed to think about the current standings. He was in second place after the short program, about three points behind Rory, which was less than the margin had been at the Grand Prix Final, and only a half a point ahead of Nikita Solovyov. Nikita was more than eight points ahead of Jake Puckerman, who was in fourth.

Kurt was not supposed to think about the rush of competing at the Olympics or the feel of stepping off that ice knowing he'd delivered his absolute best. And he was _definitely_ not supposed to think about the fact that, with the margin between the top three and the rest of the field after the short program, he would be an Olympic medalist if he skated clean tonight. He was also not supposed to panic about having drawn to skate last, which meant he'd have more time to think after the warm-up. The only upside was that Rory was skating first in the last group, and Nikita was skating third, so Kurt wouldn't have to hear either of their scores right before he skated. Still, skating last would be hard on his nerves, but at least he'd have Coach Bieste with him then.

Coach Bieste had given Kurt two instructions: the first was to picture himself skating a clean program, and the second was to relax. Both instructions seemed kind of impossible, so he was trying to focus on the first one. Don't think about the points. Don't think about the results. Don't think about Olympic medals. Just think about skating.

Kurt had been pacing the room for about an hour when Sebastian showed up. His practice had ended later than Kurt's, and he'd come to Kurt's room right away, apparently to insist that the two of them were taking a nap. It turned out to be exactly what Kurt needed. Sebastian's presence beside him forced Kurt to turn off his brain and sleep. He figured he would have to remember he owed Sebastian one in a few days when it was actually time for his boyfriend to compete.

Somehow, Kurt actually made it to his long program alive. Before he really knew it, he was standing on the ice trying to tune out the scores of the skater before him. Coach Bieste took both of his hands in hers and looked him straight in the eye. Once she was sure she had his attention, she took a deep breath, and he breathed with her. "I'm so proud of what you've done this year," she said. "Now just go out there, forget everything else, and do this program the way you've done it in practice every day."

When they called Kurt's name, he skated to center ice and then skated a small circle while shaking the tension out before taking his opening pose.

Kurt couldn't have explained what had happened later, but as soon as the music started he was in the zone. The four and half minutes of his long program flew by, and suddenly he was done. The applause was deafening, and, when he looked around, he saw that every person in the arena was on their feet. Before he took his bows, he held his hand to his heart for a moment and tried to catch his breath. It was only then that he really realized that, whatever the scores said and whatever the outcome might be, he'd just skated the best program of his life.

As soon as Kurt got off the ice, Coach Bieste and Mike both grabbed him in a hug and shouted to him that he was amazing. Kurt was still feeling a bit stunned as they sat down to wait for the scores. He could hardly believe that had been him out there. For a moment he wondered if he was still dreaming.

The replays of his skate on the monitor in front of him jogged him to reality, and all the thoughts he'd been keeping at bay earlier in the day rushed back in. All of a sudden, he was wondering how Rory and Nikita had done. Logically, there was no way that he should be able to fall below third with his performance. He'd had far too much of a lead. When the scores came up, they should say that he was at least third. They should say that he was an Olympic medalist. But this was _figure skating_. Nothing ever seemed to happen how you expected it.

Kurt realized that he was letting himself get taken out of the moment, so he turned to Coach Bieste and grabbed her hand. "Whatever happens with the scores, don't let me forget that I did what I came here to do, okay? Don't ever let me forget that I gave it everything I had, and I'm proud."

"I won't let you, Kurt. But I don't think you're going to have to worry about that," she said, and Kurt realized there were tears in her eyes.

Before he could process what that meant, he heard the arena announcer say "The scores please for Kurt Hummel of the United States of America." And his heart stopped.

"The free skating score please. He has earned one hundred eighty seven point four two points. This is a new season's best score for him." Kurt had just enough time to glance at Coach Bieste in shock. It wasn't a world record, but it was a huge number.

"His total competition score is two hundred eighty two point two three points."

Time slowed to a crawl as Kurt waited for them to announce his placement. "Kurt Hummel is currently in first place."

And the world spun out of control. Kurt dropped his head onto his knees, and he felt Coach Bieste's hand rubbing his back. For a few seconds his brain just repeated to him "Olympic gold, Olympic gold, Olympic gold," and then Coach Bieste was pulling him to his feet and hugging him.

He felt like he was in the middle of a hurricane. Somehow the dream he hadn't even been willing to think about, because it was too much, had just come true. He whispered into Coach Bieste's ear, "Are you sure?"

She laughed and pulled back so he could see her. There were tears streaming down her face, and he realized belatedly that he was crying, too. "I'm sure, kid. It was all you out there. Wasn't even close."

Kurt felt Mike's hands on his shoulder, turning him to face the crowd. Then Mike whispered, "Wave. This is your moment, and they're all cheering for you." So Kurt did.

Nothing really made a lot of sense after that. Kurt was shuffled off from there to prepare for the medal ceremony. On their way out, Coach Bieste told him that Rory had popped one quad and fallen on his last jump, which had actually caused him to drop behind Nikita into third. Nikita had apparently landed everything but with several messy landings. Coach Bieste and Mike both said they'd known he was going to win gold the moment he finished, but they couldn't say it, of course.

Unlike every other skating competition, at the Olympics the gold medalist was announced last, so Kurt watched as Rory and then Nikita skated out and climbed onto the podium. He used the time to remind himself again and again that this was really happening and to covertly wipe the tears from his eyes. Once Nikita was on the podium, Kurt took off his skate guards and waited for his turn. The announcer started in French and then, when he heard her switch to English, he stepped out onto the ice. "Winner of the gold medal, representing the United States … Kurt Hummel!"

The Olympic gold medal was heavy when it was draped around Kurt's neck, and he picked it up to look at it and trace the words with his fingers. Kurt had never considered himself especially patriotic, but when the _Star Spangled Banner_ began to play, Kurt started crying again. It was the first moment when he felt like the Olympic gold medalist.

* * *

The next twenty four or so hours were a blur to Kurt. When he remembered back, he would lose track even of the order in which they had happened. He spent a lot of time staring at his medal and trying to convince himself that it was real. He did a bunch of interviews very quickly, as well as the press conference, and then somehow managed to find Sebastian and Santana backstage. For the first time that Kurt could ever remember, Sebastian was speechless as he pulled Kurt into a bone crushing hug. Kurt held on and just kept trying to breathe.

Eventually they pulled back a bit, and Sebastian reached out to hold Kurt's medal in between them with a look of pure joy on his face. "Still really happened, right?" Kurt said.

"Yeah it did!" Santana said, interrupting the moment to give him a slightly awkward sideways hug as Sebastian rolled his eyes. "And just so you know, Bas here _cried_. You're welcome." Then she flounced off.

"You know, any other night I'd tell you that Santana was the most confusing thing in my life. But she just lost that competition," Kurt said, grinning. Sebastian responded by checking the area—for cameras, Kurt assumed—and then kissing him. The kiss was slow and deep and Kurt could feel it to his toes. It only reinforced the reminder that Santana had just given him of how much Sebastian had wanted this for Kurt.

When Sebastian broke the kiss, the two of them stood close, just looking into each other's eyes for a moment. Then Sebastian ruined the mood by saying, "Remind me that if you ever have free time again, I owe you congratulations sex."

"Sebastian Smythe, you must be the only man on earth whose first thought when his boyfriend won Olympic gold was 'congratulations sex.'"

"That's not fair!" Sebastian said, affronted. "My first fifty or so thoughts were just 'holy fuck.' The fifty-first was 'congratulations sex.'"

Kurt laughed and kissed Sebastian again. Then he sent his boyfriend back to the Olympic Village. Sebastian still had his own medal to win, so he needed sleep. Kurt knew that he wasn't going to be sleeping any time soon.

He didn't get to see his dad, Carole, and Finn until he got to Team USA house, which was set up for the families of Olympians. Finn had gone back there with their parents, because he figured it would be the easiest way to find Kurt.

Finn had grabbed him first and actually lifted him a few inches off the ground when he hugged Kurt. "You were amazing, little brother! I didn't know you had it in you!"

"Neither did I," Kurt replied honestly, and then he moved on to Carole.

Carole didn't say much of anything, because as soon as she hugged him she started sobbing. Finally, she managed to catch her breath and step out of Kurt's embrace. She took his face in her hands and said, "Congratulations, honey. You were wonderful."

Finally, Kurt moved on to his dad. He could tell that Burt had been crying, too, which wasn't a total surprise. Kurt practically threw his arms around his father and said, "I love you, dad."

"I love you, too, kiddo," Burt replied, next to Kurt's ear. "Jesus Christ, Kurt. I can't even tell you …" Then he'd pushed Kurt away from him so he could get a good look at Kurt. "My kid's an Olympic gold medalist. I don't even think I saw that one coming."

Kurt laughed. Considering that, until he'd done it, Kurt himself hadn't even thought of the possibility of winning Olympic gold as anything more than a pipe dream, he could hardly be surprised that no one else had expected it.

"I am so proud of you, Kurt," Burt said. "I would have been proud of you whether they hung a medal around your neck or not. And I know your mother would have been, too."

That, of course, restarted the waterworks for Kurt, and he hugged his father again as tightly as he could. A minute later, they'd managed to pull Finn and Carole in for a full Hummel-Hudson group hug.

At some point, Kurt caught two hours of sleep back in his room in the athletes' village before getting up, putting his gold medal—which, holy shit, still existed—back on and heading to the Today Show to explain to Matt Lauer that it really hadn't occurred to him that he might become the Olympic champion.

* * *

Kurt wasn't exactly sure how they'd gotten so lucky, but by some magic the opening of the exhibition at the Olympics hadn't required them to learn any cheesy choreography. All they'd done was skate out and wave when their names were called.

Because the Olympics exhibition included the top five finishers and several local skaters, none of the medalists were skating until after intermission, which gave them a lot of time to hang around backstage. A group of them, including Kurt; Sebastian and Santana, who'd won the bronze medal; and Kitty, who'd won silver, ended up sitting on blue warm up mats in the hallway and chatting.

Kurt was leaning his head on Sebastian's shoulder and watching Kitty and Santana argue good naturedly, when Sebastian said, "I think we should go on vacation."

"Oh, really?" Kurt asked, sitting up so he could look at Sebastian. "Where would we go?"

"Somewhere warm," Sebastian said with an obviously longing sigh. "Kurt, do you remember the last time you were warm for an _entire week_?"

Kurt had to think about it for a few minutes. "Honestly, no."

"Me either. Let's go to the Bahamas. Or Hawaii. Or the Caribbean. Let's go on a cruise!" Sebastian said excitedly.

Kurt laughed. "You okay, Sebastian?"

Instead of answering, Sebastian just interrupted Santana and Kitty. "Hey, when was the last time you guys were warm for more than a couple days?"

"Probably the last time you were," Santana answered, rolling her eyes at him.

"We went to Greece when I was fourteen," Kitty added. "So like six years ago?"

"That settles it. We're going on a cruise," Sebastian said, pulling Kurt back into his side.

Santana raised her eyebrows. "All the figure skaters in the world or just you and Kurt? I can't tell how much of a rebellion against the cold you're planning."

"The rest of you are welcome to come, if it's okay with Kurt."

At this point, Kurt couldn't even tell whether Sebastian was serious or not, which was a problem, because he was starting to get into the idea. "I don't care who comes. But I swear to god, Bas, if you promise me a cruise I am going to hold you to it."

"I am completely fucking serious, sweetheart. After Worlds, you and I are getting on a very large ship to somewhere very warm. And we're getting one of those unlimited alcohol packages."

Kurt snuggled in closer to Sebastian. He had to admit that, now that Sebastian had brought it up, he couldn't think of anything that sounded better right now. Kurt hadn't yet sorted out a single thing about his future aside from the fact that he was going to go to Worlds. He guessed that adding "go to the beach with your boyfriend" to his list of future plans couldn't hurt.

When Santana and Sebastian were alerted that they'd be up soon, Kurt followed them back out in the direction of the ice. He'd been able to see both of Santana and Sebastian's bronze medal winning programs from the stands and, if he was being honest, watching Sebastian had been more nerve wracking than skating his own programs. When Kurt himself was skating, he had very good reasons to try to shut off his brain and think only about his next move. He couldn't actually do that when Sebastian was skating, so all of the nerves were allowed to take over. It had been worth it in the end, though, when Santana and Sebastian had won the bronze medal.

Now he wanted to see the two of them get to have fun on Olympic ice. Santana and Sebastian were skating to _SexyBack_. Kurt had seen them perform the program a couple of times this year, and it never failed to amuse him. Once Sebastian and Kurt had started talking, Kurt had teased him endlessly about it. Despite the fact that Kurt had repeatedly told Sebastian that sexy had never left, he had to admit that the two of them were pretty hot. It was a perfect song choice for them, really. No one else quite oozed confidence on the ice the way they did.

Kurt and Sebastian spent the half an hour between their two performances discussing cruise destinations. When it was Kurt's turn to skate, Sebastian and Santana both followed Kurt out to the ice so that they could watch him.

Kurt waited at the entrance to the ice for his name to be announced, bouncing a bit with excitement and nerves. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your 2014 Olympic champion in the men's event, Kurt Hummel!"

Kurt raised his arms to wave as he glided out to center ice, trying to get a hold of the excitement that still rushed through him every time he heard the words "Olympic champion" announced before his name. He wondered if he'd eventually get used to it, because right now it still brought tears to his eyes. He skated a quick lap around the rink and then hit his starting pose in the middle of the ice with his arms by his sides.

When the opening strains of _Born This Way_ started, Kurt grinned. He couldn't help but feel especially pleased with himself for this music choice as he threw himself in to the program. The song was perfect not just to celebrate his Olympic gold medal, but to celebrate everything he'd gone through to win it. It felt like a victory march.


End file.
